Growth of comammox Nitrospira is inhibited by nitrification inhibitors in agricultural soils

Purpose The discovery of comammox Nitrospira being capable of complete oxidising ammonia to nitrate radically challenged the conventional concept of two-step nitrification. However, the response of comammox Nitrospira to nitrification inhibitors (NIs) and their role in soil nitrification remain largely unknown, which has hindered our ability to predict the efficiency of NIs in agroecosystems. Materials and methods We evaluated the effect of four NIs, 2-chloro-6-(trichloromethyl) pyridine (nitrapyrin), 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP), allylthiourea (ATU) and dicyandiamide (DCD) on the growth of comammox Nitrospira, ammonia-oxidising archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidising bacteria (AOB) in two pasture and arable soils. Results and discussion The amendment of nitrogen fertiliser significantly increased soil nitrate concentrations over time, indicating a sustaining nitrification activity in both soils. The addition of all the four NIs effectively reduced the production of nitrate in both soils, but to varying degrees during incubation. The abundances of comammox Nitrospira clade A were significantly increased by addition of nitrogen fertilisers and significantly impeded by the four NIs in the pasture soil, but their abundances were only remarkably hindered by nitrapyrin in the arable soil. All the four NIs obviously inhibited the AOB abundances in both soils. Except for DMPP, the other three NIs effectively suppressed the AOA abundances in both soils. Conclusions We provided new evidence that growth of comammox Nitrospira clade A can be stimulated by nitrogen fertilisers and inhibited by various nitrification inhibitors, suggesting their potential role in nitrification of agricultural soils.