New Players and Tools In Nitrification Research.

Understanding the community responsible for nitrification in the soil environment requires assessment of new groups of prokaryotes and novel molecular and biochemical tools. Recent genomic and physiological studies of several organisms responsible for nitrification in various environments will be described.  Studies in wildland and agricultural soils that characterize the microbial players responsible for nitrification in their ecophysiological context will be used as examples of current opportunities and challenges in the field.