It could never be found until recently, in a fish tank a few floors below a university microbiology department: one single organism able to perform the complete process of nitrification.

Nitrification systems and denitrification systems are used to control ammonia levels and turn nitrate into gaseous nitrogen species. Denitrification is a biochemical process that removes nitrogen from ...

Human-caused increases in gaseous nitrogen (N) emissions to the atmosphere have accelerated terrestrial ecosystem N deposition over the past half-century. As forest productivity is usually N limited, ...

Cornell chemists have uncovered a fresh role for nitric oxide that could send biochemical textbooks back for revision. They have identified a critical step in the nitrification process, which is ...

Cyanate, a degradation product of urea and cyanide, has been found to be a sufficient single substrate for the growth and reciprocal feeding of microorganisms that are essential to the global nitrogen ...

But different microbes have distinct roles to play, and environmental factors influence activity. Under our feet, in the soil, is a wealth of microbial activity. Just like humans have different ...

Under our feet, in the soil, is a wealth of microbial activity. Just like humans have different metabolisms and food choices, so do those microbes. In fact, microbes play an important role in making ...