we work along three main tracks - geno- and phenotypes of denitrifying prokaryotes - Regulatory biology of denitrification; transcription and post-translational regulation of electron flows - Ecology of denitrifying bacteria; species composition and functionality of denitrifying communities, soils and water purification systems.
Our infrastructure includes state of the art molecular biological tools for sequencing and quantification of functional genes, as well as quantification of gene expression, in cultures and communities. We are currently optimizing methods for quantification of functional proteins involved in denitrification.
We have constructed a robotized incubation system (Molstad et al 2007) which allows tracking of electron flow to various electron acceptors (O2, NO2, NO and N2O) in 15 parallel cultures. The system can also be used to measure other relevant trace gases (CO2, CH4, NO and N2O) at or below ambient concentrations, and thus serves in situ flux measurements. Our lab is also equipped with tools for stable isotope analyses (13C, 15N, 18O, D/H) of organic materials and gases (N2O, CH4, CO2)
