Denitrification dynamics in unsaturated soils with different porous structures and water saturation degrees: A focus on the shift in microbial community structures

Sungjik Oh; Kyungjin Cho; Saerom Park; Man Jae Kwon; Jaeshik Chung; Seunghak Lee

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.130413

Denitrification dynamics in unsaturated soils with different porous structures and water saturation degrees: A focus on the shift in microbial community structures

Sungjik Oh, Kyungjin Cho, Saerom Park, Man Jae Kwon, Jaeshik Chung, Seunghak Lee

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Despite its environmental significance, little is known about denitrification in vadose zones owing to the complexity of such environments. Here, we investigated denitrification in unsaturated soils with different pore distributions. To this end, we performed batch-type denitrification experiments and analyzed microbial community shifts before and after possible reactions with nitrates to clarify the relevant denitrifying mechanism in the microcosms. For quantitative comparison, pore distribution in the test soil samples was characterized based on the uniformity coefficient (C_u) and water saturation degree (SD). Micro-CT analysis of the soil pore distribution confirmed that the proportion of bigger-sized pores increased with decreasing C_u. However, oxygen diffusion into the system was controlled by SD rather than C_u. Within a certain SD range (51–67%), the pore condition changed abruptly from an oxic to an anoxic state. Consequently, denitrification occurred even under unsaturated soil conditions when the SD increased beyond 51–67%. High throughput sequencing revealed that the same microbial species were potentially responsible for denitrification under both partially (SD 67%), and fully saturated (SD of 100%) conditions, implying that the mechanism of denitrification in a vadose zone, if it exists, might be possibly similar under varying conditions.

Original language	English
Article number	130413
Journal	Journal of hazardous materials
Volume	445
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.130413
Publication status	Published - 2023 Mar 5

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funding: This work was supported by the Korea Environment Industry & Technology Institute (KEITI) through the Subsurface Environment Management (SEM) Project ( 2018002440006 ) funded by the Korea Ministry of Environment (MOE), the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) through the ‘Climate Change Impact Minimizing Technology’ Program, funded by the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT(MSIT) (2020M3H5A1080712). The authors also acknowledge the support from the Future Research Program (2E31932), funded by the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST). S. Lee was partly supported by the KU-KIST Graduate School Project .

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors

Keywords

Denitrification
Microbial community structure
Nitrate
Uniformity coefficient
Vadose zone
Water saturation degree

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Environmental Engineering
Environmental Chemistry
Waste Management and Disposal
Pollution
Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

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10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.130413

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title = "Denitrification dynamics in unsaturated soils with different porous structures and water saturation degrees: A focus on the shift in microbial community structures",

abstract = "Despite its environmental significance, little is known about denitrification in vadose zones owing to the complexity of such environments. Here, we investigated denitrification in unsaturated soils with different pore distributions. To this end, we performed batch-type denitrification experiments and analyzed microbial community shifts before and after possible reactions with nitrates to clarify the relevant denitrifying mechanism in the microcosms. For quantitative comparison, pore distribution in the test soil samples was characterized based on the uniformity coefficient (Cu) and water saturation degree (SD). Micro-CT analysis of the soil pore distribution confirmed that the proportion of bigger-sized pores increased with decreasing Cu. However, oxygen diffusion into the system was controlled by SD rather than Cu. Within a certain SD range (51–67%), the pore condition changed abruptly from an oxic to an anoxic state. Consequently, denitrification occurred even under unsaturated soil conditions when the SD increased beyond 51–67%. High throughput sequencing revealed that the same microbial species were potentially responsible for denitrification under both partially (SD 67%), and fully saturated (SD of 100%) conditions, implying that the mechanism of denitrification in a vadose zone, if it exists, might be possibly similar under varying conditions.",

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note = "Funding Information: Funding: This work was supported by the Korea Environment Industry & Technology Institute (KEITI) through the Subsurface Environment Management (SEM) Project ( 2018002440006 ) funded by the Korea Ministry of Environment (MOE), the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) through the {\textquoteleft}Climate Change Impact Minimizing Technology{\textquoteright} Program, funded by the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT(MSIT) (2020M3H5A1080712). The authors also acknowledge the support from the Future Research Program (2E31932), funded by the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST). S. Lee was partly supported by the KU-KIST Graduate School Project . Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 The Authors",

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AU - Lee, Seunghak

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PY - 2023/3/5

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N2 - Despite its environmental significance, little is known about denitrification in vadose zones owing to the complexity of such environments. Here, we investigated denitrification in unsaturated soils with different pore distributions. To this end, we performed batch-type denitrification experiments and analyzed microbial community shifts before and after possible reactions with nitrates to clarify the relevant denitrifying mechanism in the microcosms. For quantitative comparison, pore distribution in the test soil samples was characterized based on the uniformity coefficient (Cu) and water saturation degree (SD). Micro-CT analysis of the soil pore distribution confirmed that the proportion of bigger-sized pores increased with decreasing Cu. However, oxygen diffusion into the system was controlled by SD rather than Cu. Within a certain SD range (51–67%), the pore condition changed abruptly from an oxic to an anoxic state. Consequently, denitrification occurred even under unsaturated soil conditions when the SD increased beyond 51–67%. High throughput sequencing revealed that the same microbial species were potentially responsible for denitrification under both partially (SD 67%), and fully saturated (SD of 100%) conditions, implying that the mechanism of denitrification in a vadose zone, if it exists, might be possibly similar under varying conditions.

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Denitrification dynamics in unsaturated soils with different porous structures and water saturation degrees: A focus on the shift in microbial community structures

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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