Conference Program

Sunday, June 22, 2025

Early Career Researcher Workshop

09:00-10:00	Welcome Remarks - Carolin Otersen, Jördis Stührenberg, Frank Tucci
	Lydia Pryce-Jones State and University Library Bremen, Germany	Open Access and Predatory Journals
10:00-10:15	Riel Carlo O. Ingeniero GEOMAR, Germany	Evidence of biological NO production in the surface waters of oligotrophic Atlantic Ocean
10:15-10:30	Krishnapriya Thiyagarasaiyar Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland	Seasonal Variation of N₂O Exchange in Boreal Drained Peatland Forest: Influence of Nitrifier and N₂O Reducer Activity in Tree Stems and Phyllosphere
10:30-10:45	Zhiyao Wang University of Queensland, Australia	Nitric oxide facilitates aerobic denitrification via establishing a metabolically anoxic environment
10:45-11:00	J. Catherine Hexter Princeton University, USA	Newly Cultured Nitrous Oxide Respiring Microoranisms From Fully Oxygenated Surface Seawater Highlight Genetic Potential For Nitrous Oxide Sink
11:00-11:30	Coffee Break
11:30-11:45	Shiyi Liu Radboud University, Netherlands	Characterization of Cold-Adapted Nitrifying Communities in a WWTP: Metagenomic Insights and Enrichment Culture Studies
11:45-12:00	Kolovou Maria University of Thessaly, Greece	Bridging Synthetic Microbial Ecology and Microbial Ecotoxicology: Using nitrifiers SynComs for a more ecologically relevant lower tier assessment of the toxicity of pesticides on soil microorganisms
12:00-12:15	Senwei Tong University of Vienna, Austria	Kinetic Characterization of Reactive Nitrogen Intermediates in Nitrification
12:15-12:30	Farooq Moin Jalaluddin Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Germany	Microenvironments on individual sand grains enhance nitrogen loss in coastal sediments
12:30-13:45	Lunch
13:45-15:00	Panel Discussion Elena Lebedeva - Scientist Naomi de Almeida - Sartorius, Germany Laura Lehtovirta-Morley - University of East Anglia, UK Michele Laureni - Technical University of Delft, Netherlands Graeme Nicol - University of Lyon, France
15:00-15:30	Coffee Break
15:30-17:30	Opening Session, Chair Boran Kartal (Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Germany)
	Boran Kartal Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Germany	Welcome to ICoN 9!
15:30-16:30	Jeanette Norton Utah State University, USA	Adaptive Management of Nitrification in Agricultural Soils
16:30-17:30	Mike Jetten Radboud University, Netherlands	Nitrogen Under the Loupe: A Microbial Odyssey from Acid Air Washers to Anammox and beyond
17:30	Icebreaker

Monday, June 23, 2025

U Bremen Research Alliance Workshop on Oceanic Nitrogen Cycling

Chairs Bess Ward (Princeton University, USA) and Hannah Marchant (Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Germany)

09:00-09:40	Xin Sun Carnegie Science, USA	Ecological dynamics explain modular denitrification and nitrite accumulation in the ocean
09:40-10:00	Shengjie Li Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Germany	Microbial colonization of sinking aggregates in oxygen minimum zone waters and its impact on denitrification
10:00-10:20	Bo Thamdrup Gothenburg University, Sweden	Denitrification as the dominant nitrogen loss pathway in oxygen depleted waters: an in situ approach
10:20-10:40	Samantha Fortin Princeton University, USA	The Effect of ENSO on Nitrogen Cycling in the Eastern Tropical South Pacific Oxygen Minimum Zone
10:40-11:10	Coffee Break
11:10-11:30	Michael Beman University of California, Merced, USA	Contrasting patterns in the distribution, diversity, and activity of ammonia and nitrite oxidizers in oxygen deficient zones
11:30-11:50	Scott Wankel WHOI, USA	Exploring links between nitrification and cycling of other redox active elements: A look at the redoxcline of the Baltic Sea
11:50-12:10	Qixing Ji HKUST, China	Standing ready for ammonium oxidation by surface nitrifiers amid light inhibition
12:10-12:30	Justine Albers UC Santa Barbara, USA	Is Marine Nitrification Limited by Iron Availability?
12:30-14:00	Lunch

Terrestrial and Freshwater Nitrogen Cycling

Chairs Elizabeth Leon-Palmero (Princeton University, USA) and Graeme Nicol (University of Lyon, France)

14:00-14:40	Caitlin Singleton Aalborg University, Denmark	MicroFlora Danica: Diversity, homogenisation, and the hidden nitrifiers of Denmark's microbial atlas
14:40-15:00	Thomas Pribasnig University of Vienna, Austria	The Biofilm Advantage in Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaea
15:00-15:20	Michael Pester Leibniz Institute DSMZ, Germany	Ecology, ecosystem services and evolution of freshwater ammonia oxidizing archaea
15:20-15:40	Elizabeth Leon-Palmero Princeton University, USA	Predominant nitrous oxide production from photochemodenitrification in surface waters and from denitrification in the water column of two eutrophic reservoirs
15:40-16:10	Coffee Break
16:10-16:30	Joo-Han Gwak Chungbuk National University, South Korea	Archaeal nitrification is inhibited by hypoosmolarity in soils and freshwaters
16:30-16:50	Cecile Gubry-Rangin Aberdeen University, UK	The niche breadth of soil nitrifiers impacts their adaptation to fluctuating environments
16:50-17:10	Christina Hazard University Claude Bernard Lyon, France	Cultivation and characterization of soil viruses infecting ammonia-oxidising archaea and bacteria
17:10-17:30	Peter Paolo L. Rivera University of East Anglia, UK	Tandem activity-based profiling and FISH labeling enables retrieval of active soil nitrifiers
17:30-20:00	Poster Session - Odd Numbers

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

New Physiology and Metabolisms

Chairs Lisa Stein (University of Alberta, Canada) and Holger Daims (University of Vienna, Austria)

09:00-09:40	Katharina Kitzinger University of Vienna, Austria	Nitrifier metabolic versatility: Mixotrophic growth of symbiotic AOA in marine sponges
09:40-10:00	Nibendu Mondal University of Florida, USA	Ammonia saturation induces nitrifier denitrification via NO-mediated oxygen affinity defect in ammonia-oxidizing bacteria
10:00-10:20	Aaron Turner University of Alberta, Canada	Characterization of an inducible prophage in Nitrosospira multiformis
10:20-10:40	Josh Neufeld University of Waterloo, Canada	Metatranscriptomic evidence for guanidine use by comammox Nitrospira and ammonia-oxidizing archaea within rotating biological contactors of a municipal wastewater treatment system
10:40-11:10	Coffee Break
11:10-11:30	Paloma Garrido Amador Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology	Nitric oxide (NO) reduction to ammonium and dinitrogen fuels microbial growth and promotes enrichment of a new Sulfuspirillum
11:30-11:50	Jasmeet Kaur-Bhambra University Aberdeen, UK	Carbon-driven biofilm formation and acid‑tolerance mechanisms in a novel Nitrososphaera sp.
11:50-12:10	Ui-Ju Lee Chungbuk National University, South Korea	Kinetic flexibility of cytoplasmic NXR-containing nitrite oxidizers.
12:10-12:30	Eleftheria Bachtsevani University of Lyon, France	Characterization of Candidatus Nitrobacter laanbroekii NHB1, an acidotolerant nitrite-oxidizing bacterium that enhances the growth of acidophilic soil ammonia oxidisers.
12:30	Free Time

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

Nitrogen Control and Climate Change

Chairs Susanne Lackner (Darmstadt University, Germany) and Sukhwan Yoon (KAIST, South Korea)

09:00-09:40	Michele Laureni Delft University of Technology, Netherlands	Nitrogen à la carte: substrates co-respiration and the metabolism of nitrogen-converting microbiomes
09:40-10:00	Florio Alessandro INRAE Lyon, France	Do forest tree species with Biological Nitrification Inhibition (BNI) capacity affect greenhouse gases emissions and nitrate leaching from soil?
10:00-10:20	Maartje van Kessel Radboud University, Netherlands	Niche-differentiation between canonical and complete nitrifiers: results from cocultures enriched under substrate-limited conditions
10:20-10:40	Maximilian Dreer University of Vienna, Austria	Sensitivity of the Arctic Archaeal Ammonia Oxidizer Nitrosocosmicus arcticus to Increasing Temperatures and pH
10:40-11:10	Coffee Break
11:10-11:30	Sojung Yoon KAIST, South Korea	Microbial nitric oxide reduction to ammonium in nrfA-possessing DNRA-catalyzing bacterium, Citrobacter sp.DNRA3
11:30-11:50	Carlos Domingo-Felez University of Glasgow, UK	Integrating dynamics of protein synthesis and decay in biokinetic models for N₂O emissions from WWT
11:50-12:10	Jun Zhao University of Florida, USA	Post-Disturbance Dynamics of Soil Ammonia Oxidizers: Implications for Nitrogen Cycling and Greenhouse Gas Fluxes under Future Global Change
12:10-12:30	Chrysovalantou Moutzourelli University of Thessaly, Greece	Matrix-Dependent Efficacy of BNIs: A Comparative Study Across In Vitro, Slurry, and Soil Systems
12:30-14:00	Lunch
14:00-14:30	Selected talks from Early Career Workshop
14:30-17:00	Poster Session - Even Numbers
19:00	Conference Dinner

Thursday, June 26, 2025

New Methods in the Nitrogen Cycle

Chairs Petra Pjevac (University of Vienna, Austria) and Sebastian Lücker (Radboud University, Netherlands)

09:00-09:40	Ryan Ziels University of British Columbia, Canada	Engineering nitrifying microbiomes through functionally targeted multi-omics
09:40-10:00	Hans Motte Ghent University, Belgium	High-throughput approach to assess N-dynamics directly in soil
10:00-10:20	Xiaoping Fan University of Aberdeen, UK	Methodological Framework for Assessing BNI Efficiency: Integrating Varying Levels of Plant Growth Realism
10:20-10:40	Christopher Sedlacek University of Southern Indiana, USA	A microrespirometry-based approach for determining the efficacy, specificity, and mode of inhibition of nitrification inhibitors
10:40-11:10	Coffee Break
11:10-11:30	Nathalie Heldwein University of Vienna, Austria	A novel method for the extraction and measurement of hydroxylamine in soils
11:30-11:50	Peng Zhiwei Hiroshima University, Japan	Removing toxic compounds from gelling agents is a key for isolating nitrifying microorganisms using solid medium
11:50-12:10	Nicole Geerlings University of Vienna, Austria	From a single cell to the community: metabolic heterogeneity in comammox bacteria
12:10-12:30	Bradley Tolar University of North Carolina Wilmington, USA	Multi-Year Metagenomic Insights into Seasonal Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaea Blooms on Sapelo Island, Georgia, USA
12:30-14:00	Lunch

Biochemistry and Structural Biology

Chair Boran Kartal (Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Germany) and Kyle Lancaster (Cornell University, USA)

14:00-14:40	Frank Tucci Northwestern University, USA	Structures of Ammonia Monooxygenases in Native Membranes
14:40-15:00	Jiawei Liu University of Münster, Germany	Identifying the missing steps of the autotrophic 3-hydroxypropionate/4-hydroxybutyrate CO₂ fixation cycle in Nitrosopumilus maritimus
15:00-15:20	Petra Pjevac University of Vienna, Austria	A New Role for Nitrite Oxidoreductase (NXR): Formate Oxidation Revealed as Side Activity
15:20-15:40	Shankar Kundapura University of Vienna, Austria	Deciphering proteins involved in nitrification by the comammox organism Nitrospira inopinata
15:40-16:10	Coffee Break
16:10-16:30	Elena A. Andreeva Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Germany	Discovery and characterization of a novel ferredoxin from the anaerobic ammonium oxidizing bacteria Candidatus Kuenenia stuttgartiensis
16:30-16:50	Frauke Baymann CNRS, Marseille, France	Rieske/Cytb complexes from anammox bacteria: what can sequence and structure tell us about their function?
16:50-17:10	Paola Granatino Max Planck Institute for Medical Research	Anammox β-Ketoacyl-ACP Synthase II Homologs form a Ketosynthase/Chain Length Factor-like Functional Heterodimer
17:10-17:30	Coffee Break
17:30-18:30	Closing Session, Chair Sukhwan Yoon (KAIST, South Korea)
	Christopher Francis Stanford University, USA	Remarkable Diversity of Nitrifier Metagenome-Assembled Genomes from Terrestrial-Aquatic Interfaces
	Sukhwan Yoon KAIST, South Korea	Invitation to ICoN10