Denitrification – microbial communities and their functioning in the environment

Denitrifying microorganisms play a key role in the global nitrogen cycle. Denitrification is one of the main processes of this cycle and trace gases originating from it cause climatic effects. Application of molecular techniques in the field of microbial ecology allowed fundamental insights into diversity and structure of denitrifier communities. This is a prerequisite to understand the interrelationship of structure and function of denitrifier communities and the influence of parameters that drive the development of these microbial communities and their activity in the environment.