Ecophysiology of an Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaeon Adapted to Low-Salinity Habitats

Abstract Ammonia oxidation in marine and terrestrial ecosystems plays a pivotal role in the cycling of nitrogen and carbon. Recent discoveries have shown that ammoniaoxidizing archaea (AOA) are both abundant and diverse in these systems, yet very little is known about their physiology. Herewe report a hysiological analysis of a novel low-salinitytype AOA enriched from the San Francisco Bay e…