nosZII communities influence soil N2O consumption potential in a long-term tillage and fertilization experiment

Govednik, Anton (author), Jones, Christopher M. (author), Hallin, Sara (author), Suhadolc, Marjetka (author)

Emissions of N2O have an important environmental impact, with fertilization in agricultural systems contributing a substantial part. Understanding how different agricultural practices influence microbial processes governing N2O production and consumption is therefore urgently needed. This study aims to elucidate the underlying mechanisms driving N2O emissions in experimental plots subject to a combination of different tillage and fertilization practices. N2O consumption potential was evaluated in soil sampled from the field experiment by determining the genetic potential for N2O consumption/production and by measuring potential N2O production and denitrification activity (PDA) assays with and without carbon (C) substrate. The highest N2O consumption potential was observed in soil from organically fertilized no-till treatment. Addition of C to the PDA assay significantly increased N2O consumption in conventionally tilled soil, which exhibited higher proportion of nosZII genes, coding for clade II nitrous oxide reductase, in the metagenome, and a more diverse microbial community. Correspondingly, the proportion and abundance of nosZII genes as well as microbial diversity were significantly and positively related to N2O consumption potential. Gradients in soil physical and chemical properties reflected the tillage-driven differences in the composition of microbial communities, which however did not correlate with N2O consumption potential. Our findings suggest that overall taxonomy-based community structure had less importance for N2O consumption potential. Instead, the negative correlation between nosZII gene and the N2O/(N2O + N2) ratio emphasises the need to examine microbial functional capacity for better prediction of process outcomes.

• Language: English
• Keywords: denitrification, denitrifiers, nirK, nirS, nosZI, nosZII
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: BF - Biotechnical Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: 10 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 224, art. 107165
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-183771
• UDC: 631.4
• ISSN on article: 0929-1393
• COBISS.SI-ID: 282091011
• Publication date in RUL: 18.06.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Applied soil ecology
• Shortened title: Appl. soil ecol.
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0929-1393
• COBISS.SI-ID: 1208853

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
• Description: A creative commons license that bans commercial use, but the users don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: mikrobni procesi, denitrifikacija, N2O, biologija tal, obdelava tal, gnojenje, prakse upravljanja tal