ORCID Profile
0000-0003-2014-2148
Current Organisation
The University of Edinburgh
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Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 19-05-2011
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-08-2014
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-04-2019
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 25-07-2018
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-018-29559-4
Abstract: Proteins play a crucial role in many soil processes, however, standardised methods to extract soluble protein from soil are lacking. The aim of this study was to compare the ability of different extractants to quantify the recovery of soluble proteins from three soil types (Cambisol, Ferralsol and Histosol) with contrasting clay and organic matter contents. Known amounts of plant-derived 14 C-labelled soluble proteins were incubated with soil and then extracted with solutions of contrasting pH, concentration and polarity. Protein recovery proved highly solvent and soil dependent (Histosol Cambisol Ferralsol) and no single extractant was capable of complete protein recovery. In comparison to deionised water (10–60% of the total protein recovered), maximal recovery was observed with NaOH (0.1 M 61–80%) and Na-pyrophosphate (0.05 M, pH 7.0 45–75% recovery). We conclude that the dependence of protein recovery on both extractant and soil type prevents direct comparison of studies using different recovery methods, particularly if no extraction controls are used. We present recommendations for a standard protein extraction protocol.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-10-2018
Publisher: American Society for Microbiology
Date: 07-2014
DOI: 10.1128/AEM.00095-13
Abstract: Microbes play an essential role in ecosystem functions, including carrying out biogeochemical cycles, but are currently considered a black box in predictive models and all global bio ersity debates. This is due to (i) perceived temporal and spatial variations in microbial communities and (ii) lack of ecological theory explaining how microbes regulate ecosystem functions. Providing evidence of the microbial regulation of biogeochemical cycles is key for predicting ecosystem functions, including greenhouse gas fluxes, under current and future climate scenarios. Using functional measures, stable-isotope probing, and molecular methods, we show that microbial (community ersity and function) response to land use change is stable over time. We investigated the change in net methane flux and associated microbial communities due to afforestation of bog, grassland, and moorland. Afforestation resulted in the stable and consistent enhancement in sink of atmospheric methane at all sites. This change in function was linked to a niche-specific separation of microbial communities (methanotrophs). The results suggest that ecological theories developed for macroecology may explain the microbial regulation of the methane cycle. Our findings provide support for the explicit consideration of microbial data in ecosystem/climate models to improve predictions of biogeochemical cycles.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 14-01-2011
DOI: 10.1111/J.1574-6968.2010.02187.X
Abstract: Nitrous oxide (N(2)O) production by filamentous fungi has been demonstrated in pure culture and has been estimated indirectly in soils. However, it is unknown whether ectomycorrhizal fungi can also produce N(2)O. We demonstrate for the first time the ability of nitrogen (N)-tolerant ectomycorrhizal fungi (Paxillus involutus and Tylospora fibrillosa), found in forest soils under moderate to high rates of N deposition, to produce N(2)O from nitrate reduction. The N(2)O concentrations from the ectomycorrhizal fungal treatments after a 10-day pure culture experiment were 0.0117±0.00015 (P. involutus) and 0.0114±0.0003 (T. fibrillosa), and 0.0114±0.00043 μmol N(2)O L(-1) from a known fungal denitrifier (Fusarium lichenicola). No N(2)O was detected in the control treatment. Our results indicate the potential for these two N-tolerant ectomycorrhizal fungi to contribute to N(2)O production. Given that these species are abundant in many forest soils, the strength and regulation of fungal N(2)O production should now be verified in situ.
Publisher: Portland Press Ltd.
Date: 19-01-2011
DOI: 10.1042/BST0390275
Abstract: Modern agriculture has promoted the development of high-nitrification systems that are susceptible to major losses of nitrogen through leaching of nitrate and gaseous emissions of nitrogen oxide (NO and N2O), contributing to global warming and depletion of the ozone layer. Leakage of nitrogen from agricultural systems forces increased use of nitrogen fertilizers and causes water pollution and elevated costs of food production. Possible strategies for prevention of these processes involve various agricultural management approaches and use of synthetic inhibitors. Growing plants capable of producing nitrification suppressors could become a potentially superior method of controlling nitrification in the soil. There is a need to investigate the phenomenon of biological nitrification inhibition in arable crop species.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-05-2013
Abstract: Methane is an important greenhouse gas and microbes in the environment play major roles in both global methane emissions and terrestrial sinks. However, a full mechanistic understanding of the response of the methane cycle to global change is lacking. Recent studies suggest that a number of biological and environmental processes can influence the net flux of methane from soils to the atmosphere but the magnitude and direction of their impact are still debated. Here, we synthesize recent knowledge on soil microbial and biogeochemical process and the impacts of climate change factors on the soil methane cycle. We focus on (i) identification of the source and magnitude of methane flux and the global factors that may change the flux rate and magnitude in the future, (ii) the microbial communities responsible for methane production and terrestrial sinks, and (iii) how they will respond to future climatic scenarios and the consequences for feedback responses at a global scale. We also identify the research gaps in each of the topics identified above, provide evidence which can be used to demonstrate microbial regulation of methane cycle and suggest that incorporation of microbial data from emerging -omic technologies could be harnessed to increase the predictive power of simulation models.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 30-05-2012
DOI: 10.1111/J.1462-2920.2012.02789.X
Abstract: Denitrifying bacteria convert nitrate (NO(3) (-) ) to dinitrogen (N(2) ) gas through an anaerobic respiratory process in which the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N(2) O) is a free intermediate. These bacteria can be grouped into classes that synthesize a nitrite (NO(2) (-) ) reductase (Nir) that is solely dependent on haem-iron as a cofactor (e.g. Paracoccus denitrificans) or a Nir that is solely dependent on copper (Cu) as a cofactor (e.g. Achromobacter xylosoxidans). Regardless of which form of Nir these groups synthesize, they are both dependent on a Cu-containing nitrous oxide reductase (NosZ) for the conversion of N(2) O to N(2) . Agriculture makes a major contribution to N(2) O release and it is recognized that a number of agricultural lands are becoming Cu-limited but are N-rich because of fertilizer addition. Here we utilize continuous cultures to explore the denitrification phenotypes of P. denitrificans and A. xylosoxidans at a range of extracellular NO(3) (-) , organic carbon and Cu concentrations. Quite distinct phenotypes are observed between the two species. Notably, P. denitrificans emits approximately 40% of NO(3) (-) consumed as N(2) O under NO(3) (-) -rich Cu-deficient conditions, while under the same conditions A. xylosoxidans releases approximately 40% of the NO(3) (-) consumed as NO(2) (-) . However, the denitrification phenotypes are very similar under NO(3) (-) -limited conditions where denitrification intermediates do not accumulate significantly. The results have potential implications for understanding denitrification flux in a range of agricultural environments.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2016
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Liz Baggs.