An abundant bacterial phylum with nitrite-oxidizing potential in oligotrophic marine sediments
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s42003-024-06136-2.pdf
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Published version
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3.66 MB
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Author(s)
Zhao, Rui
Jørgensen, Steffen L
Babbin, Andrew R
Date Issued
2024
Journal
Communications Biology
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Citation
Zhao, R., Jørgensen, S.L. & Babbin, A.R. An abundant bacterial phylum with nitrite-oxidizing potential in oligotrophic marine sediments. Commun Biol 7, 449 (2024).
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) are important nitrifiers whose activity regulates the availability of nitrite and dictates the magnitude of nitrogen loss in ecosystems. In oxic marine sediments, ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and NOB together catalyze the oxidation of ammonium to nitrate, but the abundance ratios of AOA to canonical NOB in some cores are significantly higher than the theoretical ratio range predicted from physiological traits of AOA and NOB characterized under realistic ocean conditions, indicating that some NOBs are yet to be discovered. Here we report a bacterial phylum Candidatus Nitrosediminicolota, members of which are more abundant than canonical NOBs and are widespread across global oligotrophic sediments. Ca. Nitrosediminicolota members have the functional potential to oxidize nitrite, in addition to other accessory functions such as urea hydrolysis and thiosulfate reduction. While one recovered species (Ca. Nitrosediminicola aerophilus) is generally confined within the oxic zone, another (Ca. Nitrosediminicola anaerotolerans) additionally appears in anoxic sediments. Counting Ca. Nitrosediminicolota as a nitrite-oxidizer helps to resolve the apparent abundance imbalance between AOA and NOB in oxic marine sediments, and thus its activity may exert controls on the nitrite budget.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-06136-2
