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Microbial Nitrogen Cycling
The oxidation of NH3 to NO2- and ultimately NO3- by chemoautotrophic nitrifying microorganisms is a critical branch of the nitrogen cycle in soil, sedimentary, marine, freshwater and estuarine environments, where this process provides a key link between the mineralization of organic nitrogen and the subsequent loss of fixed nitrogen via denitrification and anammox.
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Microbial Metal Cycling
The oxidation of soluble manganese(II) to insoluble Mn(III,IV) oxides is an environmentally important process because the solid phase products oxidize a variety of organic and inorganic compounds [e.g., humics, Cr(III), Fe(II), HS-], scavenge many heavy metals (e.g., Cu, Co, Cd, Zn, Ni, Pb), and serve as electron acceptors for anaerobic respiration.
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