Bacterial Domination Over Archaea in Ammonia Oxidation in a Monsoon-Driven Tropical Estuary

Autotrophic ammonia oxidizing microorganisms, which are responsible for the rate-limiting step of nitrification in most aquatic systems, have not been studied in tropical estuaries. Cochin estuary (CE) is one of the largest, productive, and monsoon-driven estuary in India opening into the southeast Arabian Sea. CE receives surplus quantities of ammonia through industrial and domestic discharges. The distribution of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), and anaerobic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (anammox) were studied using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and their relative contribution to the process as well as the governing factors were examined and reported for the first time from CE. The order of occurrence of these assemblages was β-proteobacteria (0.79 to 2 × 105 cells ml−1) > γ-proteobacteria (0.9 to 4.6 × 104 cells ml−1) > anammox (0.49 to 1.9 × 104 cells ml−1) > AOA (0.56 to 6.3 × 103 cells ml−1). Phylogenetic analysis of DGGE bands showed major affiliation of AOB to β-proteobacteria, while AOA was affiliated to Crenarchaeota. The abundance of AOB was mostly influenced by ammonia concentrations. The recovered ammonia oxidation rate of AOB was in the range of 45–65 %, whereas for AOA, it was 15–45 %, indicating that AOB were mostly responsible for the ammonia oxidation in CE during the study period. Overall, the present study provides an insight into the relevance and contribution of different groups of ammonia oxidizing bacteria in CE and emphasizes the need for further in depth studies across space and on season scale.