Common Nitrification Inhibitors Exhibit Distinct Mechanisms on the Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaeon Nitrososphaera viennensis.
4 affiliations
- 1University of Thessaly , Department of Environmental Sciences, Laboratory of Environmental Microbiology and Virology, LarissaGR-41500, Greece.
- 2University of Vienna , Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology, Djerassiplatz 1, ViennaA-1030, Austria.
- 3University of Vienna , Research Support Facilities Mass Spectrometry Unit, University Biology Building Djerassiplatz 1, ViennaA-1030, Austria.
- 4University of Thessaly, Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Laboratory of Plant and Environmental Biotechnology, LarissaGR-41500, Greece.
Abstract
Microbial ammonia oxidation, the first and rate-limiting step of nitrification, plays a central role in soil nitrogen cycling. It is most relevant in agricultural soils as nitrifiers compete with crops for ammonia-based fertilizers. Therefore, synthetic nitrification inhibitors are widely used alongside fertilizers to reduce the activities of dominant drivers of this process, i.e., ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB). However, the physiological responses of ammonia oxidizers remain poorly resolved. Here, the response of the AOA Nitrososphaera viennensis to the nitrification inhibitors 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) and allylthiourea (ATU) was investigated using a combination of functional genomics, physiological assays, and relief experiments. The results overturn earlier assumptions that DMPP and ATU act by chelating free copper. Both compounds affected ammonia oxidation and triggered broader shifts in energy metabolism and stress-response pathways, which diverged markedly between the two inhibitors. We propose a competitive inhibition of the ammonia monooxygenase complex with DMPP as it can be alleviated by additional ammonia and elicits activation of urea acquisition, while ATU acted as a noncompetitive inhibitor generally inducing quiescence. Both modes of inhibition were associated with clear transcriptomic and proteomic signals that will be advantageous for the identification of mechanisms of other nitrification inhibitors in the future.
Related
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BibTeX
@article{dalkidis2026common,
title = {{Common Nitrification Inhibitors Exhibit Distinct Mechanisms on the Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaeon Nitrososphaera viennensis.}},
author = {Dimitrios Dalkidis and Andrea Malits and Melina Kerou and Hadis Sajedi and Leila Afjehi-Sadat and Christa Schleper and Dimitrios G Karpouzas and Evangelia S Papadopoulou and Logan H Hodgskiss},
journal = {Environmental science \& technology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1021/acs.est.6c08773},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42915994},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Common Nitrification Inhibitors Exhibit Distinct Mechanisms on the Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaeon Nitrososphaera viennensis.
AU - Dimitrios Dalkidis
AU - Andrea Malits
AU - Melina Kerou
AU - Hadis Sajedi
AU - Leila Afjehi-Sadat
AU - Christa Schleper
AU - Dimitrios G Karpouzas
AU - Evangelia S Papadopoulou
AU - Logan H Hodgskiss
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Environmental science & technology
DO - 10.1021/acs.est.6c08773
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42915994
AB - Microbial ammonia oxidation, the first and rate-limiting step of nitrification, plays a central role in soil nitrogen cycling. It is most relevant in agricultural soils as nitrifiers compete with crops for ammonia-based fertilizers. Therefore, synthetic nitrification inhibitors are widely used alongside fertilizers to reduce the activities of dominant drivers of this process, i.e., ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB). However, the physiological responses of ammonia oxidizers remain poorly resolved. Here, the response of the AOA Nitrososphaera viennensis to the nitrification inhibitors 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) and allylthiourea (ATU) was investigated using a combination of functional genomics, physiological assays, and relief experiments. The results overturn earlier assumptions that DMPP and ATU act by chelating free copper. Both compounds affected ammonia oxidation and triggered broader shifts in energy metabolism and stress-response pathways, which diverged markedly between the two inhibitors. We propose a competitive inhibition of the ammonia monooxygenase complex with DMPP as it can be alleviated by additional ammonia and elicits activation of urea acquisition, while ATU acted as a noncompetitive inhibitor generally inducing quiescence. Both modes of inhibition were associated with clear transcriptomic and proteomic signals that will be advantageous for the identification of mechanisms of other nitrification inhibitors in the future.
SN - 0013-936X
SN - 1520-5851
ER -