Scientific Contributions of ACTIONr at ICoN9 (Bremen, 22–26 June 2025)

• Post by: smalls
• July 17, 2025
• Comments off

The ACTIONr project actively participated in the 9th International Conference on Nitrification and Related Processes (ICoN9), held on 22–26 June 2025 in Bremen, Germany, contributing a series of oral and poster presentations aligned with its research focus on soil nitrification, nitrification inhibitors, and plant–microbe interactions in the nitrogen cycle.

The ACTIONr team presented cutting-edge findings from various work packages, highlighting how the integration of multi-omics approaches, synthetic microbial communities, and BNI screening platforms advances our understanding of nitrifier responses and supports sustainable nitrogen management.

Oral and Poster Contributions:

• Maria Kolovou (University of Thessaly) presented both an oral communication at the Early Career Researcher Workshop and a poster at the main conference, focusing on the use of synthetic microbial communities (SynComs) as model systems for assessing the ecotoxicity of pesticides on ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms. This approach aims to simulate microbial interactions more realistically than conventional single species tests.
• Eleftheria Bachtsevani (University of Lyon) presented the genomic and metabolic characterization of Candidatus Nitrobacter laanbroekii NHB1, an acid-tolerant nitrite oxidizer that enhances the performance of ammonia-oxidizing archaea under acidic soil conditions through metabolic cross-feeding.
• Valia Moutzoureli (University of Thessaly) gave an oral presentation on the matrix-dependent efficacy of biological nitrification inhibitors (BNIs), comparing their performance in pure cultures, soil slurries, and intact soils. Her results underline the challenges of translating lab-scale findings to complex environmental matrices.

Poster presentations from ACTIONr researchers included:

• Paraskevi Amanatidou (University of Thessaly), evaluating the BNI activity of Trigonella foenum-graecum (fenugreek) under different nitrogen regimes and concentrations.
• Dimitrios Dalkidis (University of Thessaly), applying time-resolved transcriptomic and proteomic analyses to investigate how Nitrososphaera viennensis responds to selected nitrification inhibitors at the molecular level.
• Elena Papadopoulou, (University of Thessaly) assessing the persistence and dissipation kinetics of BNIs in ten distinct soils, emphasizing the role of pH and microbial activity in shaping their environmental fate.
• Evangelia Papadopoulou (University of Thessaly), presenting a high-throughput platform for screening wheat genotypes for BNI activity, based on exudate analysis against a panel of ecologically relevant ammonia oxidizers.

The strong presence of ACTIONr at ICoN9 reflected the project’s central role in advancing the understanding of microbial nitrification processes and the development of plant- and microbe-based tools for environmentally responsible nitrogen management. The participation also fostered dialogue and collaboration within the international research community working at the interface of soil microbiology, agroecology, and environmental biotechnology.