Managing Global Resources for a Secure Future

2017 Annual Meeting | Oct. 22-25 | Tampa, FL

108502 Investigating Microbial Urea Production in Agricultural Drainage Ditch Sediments.

Poster Number 1135

See more from this Division: SSSA Division: Soil and Water Management and Conservation
See more from this Session: Soil and Water Management and Conservation General Poster II (includes student competition)

Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Tampa Convention Center, East Exhibit Hall

Sabrina A. Klick1, Mason D. King2, Joseph S. Pitula3, Arthur L. Allen4, Fawzy M. Hashem5, Anthony R. Buda6, Lou S. Saporito6, Ray B. Bryant7 and Eric B. May1, (1)Natural Sciences, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, MD
(2)University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, MD
(3)Natural Sciences, University of Maryland Eastern Shore-State of MD, Princess Anne, MD
(4)Crop and Aquaculture Bldg, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, MD
(5)30921 Martin Court, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, MD
(6)Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Research Unit, USDA-ARS, University Park, PA
(7)Curtin Road, USDA-ARS, University Park, PA
Abstract:
The increasing usage of urea nitrogen in fertilizers is a growing concern because of its association with harmful algal blooms and water quality. Urea - ammonium - nitrate fertilizers are commonly applied to crop fields on the Maryland Eastern Shore during April and May. However, increased concentrations of urea-N above 100 ug N L-1 have not been found to occur until July or after storm events in the surface waters of the Manokin and Choptank Watersheds. Since urea is quickly hydrolyzed in the environment and urease inhibitors only last up to two weeks, it is unlikely that the urea-N measured in the surface waters downstream July through September is the same urea-N applied onto the crop fields in April and May. It is hypothesized that microbial communities contribute to the urea pool and influence the urea-N measured months after fertilization. Direct pathways leading to urea production originate from substrates in the dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) pool such as DNA and amino acids. Therefore, a mesocosm experiment using agricultural drainage ditch sediment was run to investigate if substrates from the DON pool are pre-cursors to urea production. Sediments were enriched with either untreated water, nitrate, or DON; and then incubated at 27oC for a week. Sediment was collected at four time points for RNA and DNA extraction for microbial community composition and urease activity. Water samples were collected daily for nitrogen concentrations and determination of urea production. Results from the experiment will be used to generate gene targets from urea producing pathways, and to set-up another experiment to invesitgate mechanisms of microbial urea production in forest and agricultural drainage ditch sediments.

See more from this Division: SSSA Division: Soil and Water Management and Conservation
See more from this Session: Soil and Water Management and Conservation General Poster II (includes student competition)

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