Abstract
The diversity of diazotrophs was studied in the sediment of mangrove forests (Twin Cays, Belize) subjected to a long-term fertilization with nitrogen and phosphorus. Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (TRFLP) and cloning of PCR-amplified nifH genes were combined via in silico analysis to assign clones to TRFLP-nifH phylotypes, as well as to characterize the occurrence of phylotypes in response to environmental conditions. Results indicated that mangrove sediments from Belize harbor a unique diazotrophic community with a low metabolic diversity dominated by sulfate reducers. The variability of potential nitrogen-fixing sulfate reducers was explained by several environmental parameters, primarily by the abundance of dead roots in the sediments, and the concentration of H2S in the pore-waters. This study describes the complexity of microbial communities within the mangrove sediments with specific functional groups varying along environmental gradients.