New Nature article shows growth of comammox nitrifiers on guanidine

This unexpected finding revealed a fourth growth substrate for ammonia oxidizers and offers new insights into niche partitioning of nitrifiers, opportunities for targeted isolation of comammox microbes, and opportunities for a more sustainable agriculture.

This study led by the DOME nitrification group involved many members of the FWF Cluster of Excellence at CeMESS as well as scientists from the UFZ in Leipzig and Aalborg University.

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Fig. 1: Structure of the guanidinase enzyme of the comammox species Nitrospira inopinata, which converts guanidine into urea. The presumed entrance to a tunnel leading to the active site is highlighted in the left image. In the right section, the tunnel is shown as a green line and guanidine as a stick model. The structure was elucidated by the team led by Kristina Djinović-Carugo. C: Kristina Djinović-Carugo/University of Vienna