Microscale distribution of nosZ-harboring microbes in single soil aggregate

N2O (nitrous oxide) emissions have become a global concern because the N2O is a greenhouse gas with a global warming effect greater than that of the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide. Agricultural soils are responsible for around 60% of global anthropogenic N2O emissions. The soil matrix is composed of soil aggregates with various sizes that create fine-scale heterogeneities of physical and chemical conditions and microbial activities as a unique characteristic of the soil. We performed metagenomic analysis, such as amplicon sequencing of 16S rRNA and nosZ (N2O reductase) genes, to investigated depth distributions of N2O-harboring microbes in single soil macroaggregate at a microscale.