Temperature defines metabolic states that lead to seasonal adaptation of the soil nitrite oxidizer Nitrobacter vulgaris strain CN101.

Nitrobacter vulgaris strain CN101 shows a temperature-driven metabolic-state shift at 20°C, with low-temperature conditions maintaining activity but constraining biomass production.

• Why it matters: Seasonal temperature swings in forest soils strongly affect nitrification, but the temperature-dependent ecophysiology of terrestrial nitrite oxidizers is not well resolved.
• What they did: CN101 from forest soil in Japan was tested across culture temperatures using temperature-dependent kinetics, transcriptomics, and electron microscopy to link gene expression and ultrastructure to physiology.
• The result: Below 20°C, nitrite oxidation slows and electron-transport and protein-synthesis genes drop while carbon and nitrogen assimilation stay relatively unchanged, with smaller cells and simplified membranes; above 20°C, electron transport and translational capacity recover with larger morphology, supporting growth-promoting states.

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