Archaea produce lower yields of N2 O than bacteria during aerobic ammonia oxidation in soil.

Nitrogen fertilisation of agricultural soil contributes significantly to emissions of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2 O), which is generated during denitrification and, in oxic soils, mainly by ammonia oxidisers. Although laboratory cultures of ammonia oxidising bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA) produce N2 O, their relative activities in soil are unknown. This work tested the hypothesis that AOB dominate ammonia oxidation and N2 O production under conditions of high inorganic ammonia (NH3 ) input, but result mainly from the activity of AOA when NH3 is derived from mineralisation. 1-octyne, a recently discovered inhibitor of AOB, was used to distinguish N2 O production resulting from archaeal and bacterial ammonia oxidation in soil microcosms, and specifically inhibited AOB growth, activity and N2 O production. In unamended soils, ammonia oxidation and N2 O production were lower and resulted mainly from ammonia oxidation by AOA. The AOA N2 O yield relative to nitrite produced was half that of AOB, likely due to additional enzymatic mechanisms in the latter, but ammonia oxidation and N2 O production were directly linked in all treatments. Relative contributions of AOA and AOB to N2 O production, therefore, reflect their respective contributions to ammonia oxidation. These results suggest potential mitigation strategies for N2 O emissions from fertilised agricultural soils.