Developing quantitative PCR assays to target microbial nitrogen cycle genes: A new tool to monitor ecosystem function in sediment
The activity described in this report was developed from initial research co-funded by Power and Water Corporation (PWC), Northern Territory Government (NTG) and INPEX. The initial study showed that some bacterial nitrogen cycling genes (functional markers) detected in sediment and water of Darwin Harbour were different between human impacted and reference sites. These included nosZ genes associated with denitrification (the removal of nitrogen or nitrogen compounds that results in the escape of gaseous nitrogen), archaeal amoA genes associated with ammonia oxidation (the biological oxidation of ammonia or ammonium to nitrite), and nitrite oxidation genes.
The activity described in this report was developed from initial research co-funded by Power and Water Corporation (PWC), Northern Territory Government (NTG) and INPEX. The initial study showed that some bacterial nitrogen cycling genes (functional markers) detected in sediment and water of Darwin Harbour were different between human impacted and reference sites. These included nosZ genes associated with denitrification (the removal of nitrogen or nitrogen compounds that results in the escape of gaseous nitrogen), archaeal amoA genes associated with ammonia oxidation (the biological oxidation of ammonia or ammonium to nitrite), and nitrite oxidation genes.