Relative contribution of ecological differentiated nitrifying communities to autotrophic nitrification in four paddy soils. soil metagenome

DNA-SIP soil microcosms were performed to determine the active nitrifying communities in four paddy soils in China. The 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing was conducted to determine the changes in abundances of nitrifiers in the total DNA of the soil microcosms over the incubation period of 56 days, and to verify the efficacy of 13C incorporation into the genomes of nitrifiers in the fractionated DNA across the entire buoyant density gradients from DNA-SIP microcosms.