Life | Special Issue : Microbes in Global Carbon, Sulfur, and Nitrogen Cycles

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Microbes in Global Carbon, Sulfur, and Nitrogen Cycles

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A special issue of Life (ISSN 2075-1729). This special issue belongs to the section "Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (2 September 2022) | Viewed by 5024

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Man-Young Jung

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Guest Editor

Division of Biology Education, Department of Science Education, Jeju National University, Jeju 63243, Korea
Interests: microbial ecology; nitrogen cycle; nitrification; denitrification; archaea; comammox; global warming

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Our planet is saturated with microbes; with approximately 5.0×10³⁰ cells on our planet, the number of microbes is around 10⁸ greater than the number of stars in the observable universe. Microbes constitute an entire world unseen by the naked eye. However, the processes performed by microbes in this invisible world, due to their great abundance, remarkable metabolic capacities, and adaptation potential, significantly affect our visible world. These processes include virtually every chemical reaction in the biosphere that constitutes the main biogeochemical cycles (carbon, nitrogen, sulfur), which are the primary materials on our planet and are necessary for all life. The role of microorganisms in the primary biogeochemical cycles of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems is presented. Consequently, they are believed to be key players in the adaptation, control, and recovery of our ecosystems.

The biodiversity of microorganisms is highlighted, and their metabolic pathways based on exchanges and biotransformation of the elements (carbon, nitrogen, sulfur) within ecosystems need to be discussed. The impacts of human activities on the microbial actors and processes of biogeochemical cycles, as well as the cascading ecological effects (greenhouse gas emissions, acid rains, dystrophic crises, etc.), also need to be discussed.

The processes also involve interactions between organisms, both among microbes and between microbes and large organisms in biogeochemical cycles. These interactions are further affected by changes in climate. Therefore, we need to explore this world, the creatures that inhabit it, and the things they do.

Dr. Man-Young Jung
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Life is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

microbial ecology
environmental microbiology
metagenomics
carbon cycle
nitrogen cycle
sulfur cycle
nitrification
denitrification
methane oxidation
methanogen

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 1771 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Abundance and Niche Differentiation of Comammox in the Sludges of Wastewater Treatment Plants That Use the Anaerobic–Anoxic–Aerobic Process

by Sheng-Nan Zhang, Jian-Gong Wang, Dan-Qi Wang, Qiu-Yue Jiang and Zhe-Xue Quan

Life 2022, 12(7), 954; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12070954 - 24 Jun 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1451

Abstract

Complete ammonia oxidizers (comammox), which directly oxidize ammonia to nitrate, were recently identified and found to be ubiquitous in artificial systems. Research on the abundance and niche differentiation of comammox in the sludges of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) would be useful for improving the nitrogen removal efficiency of WWTPs. Here, we investigated the relative abundance and diversity of comammox in fifteen sludges of five WWTPs that use the anaerobic–anoxic–aerobic process in Jinan, China, via quantitative polymerase chain reaction and high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and ammonia monooxygenase gene. In the activated sludges in the WWTPs, comammox clade A.1 was widely distributed and mostly comprised Candidatus Nitrospira nitrosa-like comammox (>98% of all comammox). The proportion of this clade was negatively correlated (p < 0.01) with the dissolved oxygen (DO) level (1.7–8 mg/L), and slight pH changes (7.20–7.70) affected the structure of the comammox populations. Nitrospira lineage I frequently coexisted with Nitrosomonas, which generally had a significant positive correlation (p < 0.05) with the DO level. Our study provided an insight into the structure of comammox and other nitrifier populations in WWTPs that use the anaerobic–anoxic–aerobic process, broadening the knowledge about the effects of DO on comammox and other nitrifiers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbes in Global Carbon, Sulfur, and Nitrogen Cycles)

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Review

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14 pages, 2246 KiB

Open AccessReview

Nitrous Oxide Emission from Full-Scale Anammox-Driven Wastewater Treatment Systems

by Zhiman Lin, Kayan Ma and Yuchun Yang

Life 2022, 12(7), 971; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12070971 - 28 Jun 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3019

Abstract

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are important contributors to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, partly due to their huge emission of nitrous oxide (N₂O), which has a global warming potential of 298 CO₂ equivalents. Anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing (anammox) bacteria provide a shortcut in the nitrogen removal pathway by directly transforming ammonium and nitrite to nitrogen gas (N₂). Due to its energy efficiency, the anammox-driven treatment has been applied worldwide for the removal of inorganic nitrogen from ammonium-rich wastewater. Although direct evidence of the metabolic production of N₂O by anammox bacteria is lacking, the microorganisms coexisting in anammox-driven WWTPs could produce a considerable amount of N₂O and hence affect the sustainability of wastewater treatment. Thus, N₂O emission is still one of the downsides of anammox-driven wastewater treatment, and efforts are required to understand the mechanisms of N₂O emission from anammox-driven WWTPs using different nitrogen removal strategies and develop effective mitigation strategies. Here, three main N₂O production processes, namely, hydroxylamine oxidation, nitrifier denitrification, and heterotrophic denitrification, and the unique N₂O consumption process termed nosZ-dominated N₂O degradation, occurring in anammox-driven wastewater treatment systems, are summarized and discussed. The key factors influencing N₂O emission and mitigation strategies are discussed in detail, and areas in which further research is urgently required are identified. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbes in Global Carbon, Sulfur, and Nitrogen Cycles)

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