ACTIONr Workshop on Biological Nitrification Inhibition at ICoN9

• Post by: smalls
• July 17, 2025
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On June 27, 2025, the ACTIONr project successfully organized a dedicated workshop on Biological Nitrification Inhibition (BNI) as a satellite event of the 9th International Conference on Nitrification and Related Processes (ICoN9), hosted at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany.

This one-day scientific event brought together researchers and experts in soil microbiology, plant science, and nitrogen cycling to explore the emerging role of BNIs in sustainable nitrogen management—from fundamental molecular mechanisms to applied strategies in agricultural systems. The workshop followed four days of intensive scientific exchange at ICoN9 and served to deepen the discussion on soil nitrification control.

The workshop was opened by Prof. Dimitrios Karpouzas (University of Thessaly, Greece), coordinator of the ACTIONr project, who provided an overview of the project’s objectives and approach.

Two invited plenary speakers followed:

Dr. Cecile de Klein (AgResearch, New Zealand), who discussed the mitigation of nitrous oxide emissions in grazing systems through the application of BNIs.

Prof. Sakiko Okumoto (Texas A&M University, USA), who presented recent advances on the BNI capacity of Sorghum bicolor and its mechanistic basis.

Research highlights from ACTIONr partners were also presented, including:

• The use of multi-omics approaches to assess nitrifier responses to nitrification inhibitors (Dr. Logan Hodgskiss University of Vienna, Austria; Dimitris Dalkidis, University of Thessaly, Greece)
• The development of synthetic microbial communities (SynComs) of nitrifiers for testing microbial ecotoxicity (pesticides) or inhibitory activity (nitrification inhibitors) of agrochemicals (Maria Kolovou, University of Thessaly, Greece)
• The soil persistence of BNIs and their implications for field deployment (Dr. Elena Papadopoulou, University of Thessaly, Greece)
• The screening of Greek Trigonella (fenugreek) genotypes for BNI activity (Paraskevi Amanatidou, University of Thessaly, Greece)

💬 The workshop concluded with a roundtable discussion, moderated by Prof. Karpouzas, where ACTIONr researchers and international collaborators reflected on key challenges and future directions for BNI research and application.

 The ACTIONr team warmly thanks Dr. Boral Kartal, local organizer of ICoN9, for his crucial support in hosting the workshop and for facilitating access to the excellent facilities of the Max Planck Institute.