CNRS
Graeme Nicol is a soil microbiologist. His research group has contributed to our understanding the roles of soil microorganisms (archaea and bacteria) to reactive nitrogen cycling in soil and cultivated the World’s first obligate acidophilic ammonia oxidiser Nitrosotalea devaniterrae, which, in part, solved the century-old paradox of why nitrification occurs in acid soils. His group also cultivated further ammonia-oxidizing archaea including the first isolate of the Nitrosocosmicus genus. He developed the use of stable-isotope approaches for examining microbial activity in situ and has made significant contributions to understanding the ecophysiology and niche differentiation of nitrifier groups in soil. This has included determining the impact of nitrogen and fertiliser source on contributions to N2O production linked to archaeal vs bacterial nitrifier activity.
Your IFA Innovation Platform Profile
What collaboration are we looking for?
Fundamentally our research aims to understand the microbiology underpinning fertiliser transformation and loss from soil. This includes identifying which groups of microorganisms (e.g. archaea, bacteria, fungi) are performing reactive nitrogen (N) transformation, how different forms of fertiliser N (e.g. inorganic vs organic sources) are used by different groups of N-cycling microorgansioms, and how we can develop strategies for reducing the activity of these specific microbial groups through choice of fertiliser type (e.g. slow release) or inhibition strategies (e.g. synthetic or biological nitrification inhibitors).
Inspired by clinical and industrial applications, a current research focus is also developing the use of environmental bacterial viruses (phages) that specifically target nitrifying microorganisms as a natural and highly targeted approach to inhibit their activity. The long-term aim is to develop an innovative fertilisation strategy using formulations of fertiliser and phages to specifically reduce their activity during N application without the concerns associated with inhibiting non-target groups or application of chemicals.
What solutions and opportunities are we offering?
– Expertise in all aspects of soil microbiology related to nitrification and fertiliser transformation
– In situ characterisation of active microbial groups associated with nitrate and N2O production
– Examining impacts of amendements (e.g. inhibitors) or fertiliser products (e.g. novel slow release fertilsers) on microbial communities in soil
– Use of model nitrifying bacteria and archaea in laboratory culture
Additional geographies of business operation
Europe
Additional geographies of business operation (per country)
n/a
Additional Information
Innovation Priorities: What are our current areas of interest for innovation solutions?
Virus-mediated biological nitrification inhibition: a novel technology for advancing fertiliser use efficiency
Please provide hyperlinks and/or descriptions to demonstrate examples of some recent research projects, field trials, or publications
ANR: CONSERVE – Controlling nitrification in soil by exploiting virus ecology. 2023-2026; EU Horizon Twinning: ACTIONr - Research action network for reducing reactive nitrogen losses from agricultural ecosystems. 2023-2026; Grantham Foundation: Virus biol