Microscale advection governs microbial growth and oxygen consumption in macroporous aggregates

Most microbial life on Earth is found in localized microenvironments that collectively exert a crucial role in maintaining ecosystem health and influencing global biogeochemical cycles. In many habitats such as biofilms in aquatic systems, bacterial flocs in activated sludge, periphyton mats, or particles sinking in the ocean, these microenvironments experience sporadic or continuous flow. Depending on their microscale structure, pores and channels through the microenvironments permit localized flow that shifts the relative importance of diffusive and advective mass transport. How this flow alters nutrient supply, facilitates waste removal, drives the emergence of different microbial niches, and impacts the overall function of the microenvironments remains unclear. Here, we quantify how pores through microenvironments that permit flow can elevate nutrient supply to the resident bacterial community using a microfluidic experimental system and gain further insights from coupled population-based and computational fluid dynamics simulations. We find that the microscale structure determines the relative contribution of advection vs diffusion, and even a modest flow through a pore in the range of 10 µm s-1 can increase the carrying capacity of a microenvironment by 10%. Recognizing the fundamental role that microbial hotspots play in the Earth system, developing frameworks that predict how their heterogeneous morphology and potential interstitial flows change microbial function and collectively alter global scale fluxes is critical.IMPORTANCEMicrobial life is a key driver of global biogeochemical cycles. Similar to the distribution of humans on Earth, they are often not homogeneously distributed in nature but occur in dense clusters that resemble microbial cities. Within and around these clusters, diffusion is often assumed as the sole mass-transfer process that dictates nutrient supply and waste removal. In many natural and engineered systems such as biofilms in aquatic environments, aggregates in bioremediation, or flocs in wastewater treatment plants, these clusters are exposed to flow that elevates mass transfer, a process that is often overlooked. In this study, we show that advective fluxes can increase the local growth of bacteria in a single microenvironment by up to 50% and shape their metabolism by disrupting localized anoxia or supplying nutrients at different rates. Collectively, advection-enhanced mass transport may thus regulate important biogeochemical transformations in both natural and engineered environments.

An abundant bacterial phylum with nitrite-oxidizing potential in oligotrophic marine sediments

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.

Uncultivated DPANN archaea are ubiquitous inhabitants of global oxygen-deficient zones with diverse metabolic potential

Archaea belonging to the DPANN (Diapherotrites, Parvarchaeota, Aenigmarchaeota, Nanoarchaeota, and Nanohaloarchaeota) superphylum have been found in an expanding number of environments and perform a variety of biogeochemical roles, including contributing to carbon, sulfur, and nitrogen cycling. Generally characterized by ultrasmall cell sizes and reduced genomes, DPANN archaea may form mutualistic, commensal, or parasitic interactions with various archaeal and bacterial hosts, influencing the ecology and functioning of microbial communities. While DPANN archaea reportedly comprise a sizeable fraction of the archaeal community within marine oxygen-deficient zone (ODZ) water columns, little is known about their metabolic capabilities in these ecosystems. We report 33 novel metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) belonging to the DPANN phyla Nanoarchaeota, Pacearchaeota, Woesearchaeota, Undinarchaeota, Iainarchaeota, and SpSt-1190 from pelagic ODZs in the Eastern Tropical North Pacific and the Arabian Sea. We find these archaea to be permanent, stable residents of all three major ODZs only within anoxic depths, comprising up to 1% of the total microbial community and up to 25%-50% of archaea as estimated from read mapping to MAGs. ODZ DPANN appear to be capable of diverse metabolic functions, including fermentation, organic carbon scavenging, and the cycling of sulfur, hydrogen, and methane. Within a majority of ODZ DPANN, we identify a gene homologous to nitrous oxide reductase. Modeling analyses indicate the feasibility of a nitrous oxide reduction metabolism for host-attached symbionts, and the small genome sizes and reduced metabolic capabilities of most DPANN MAGs suggest host-associated lifestyles within ODZs.

IMPORTANCE

Archaea from the DPANN (Diapherotrites, Parvarchaeota, Aenigmarchaeota, Nanoarchaeota, and Nanohaloarchaeota) superphylum have diverse metabolic capabilities and participate in multiple biogeochemical cycles. While metagenomics and enrichments have revealed that many DPANN are characterized by ultrasmall genomes, few biosynthetic genes, and episymbiotic lifestyles, much remains unknown about their biology. We report 33 new DPANN metagenome-assembled genomes originating from the three global marine oxygen-deficient zones (ODZs), the first from these regions. We survey DPANN abundance and distribution within the ODZ water column, investigate their biosynthetic capabilities, and report potential roles in the cycling of organic carbon, methane, and nitrogen. We test the hypothesis that nitrous oxide reductases found within several ODZ DPANN genomes may enable ultrasmall episymbionts to serve as nitrous oxide consumers when attached to a host nitrous oxide producer. Our results indicate DPANN archaea as ubiquitous residents within the anoxic core of ODZs with the potential to produce or consume key compounds.

Uncultivated DPANN archaea are ubiquitous inhabitants of global oxygen deficient zones with diverse metabolic potential

Archaea belonging to the DPANN superphylum have been found within an expanding number of environments and perform a variety of biogeochemical roles, including contributing to carbon, sulfur, and nitrogen cycling. Generally characterized by ultrasmall cell sizes and reduced genomes, DPANN archaea may form mutualistic, commensal, or parasitic interactions with various archaeal and bacterial hosts, influencing the ecology and functioning of microbial communities. While DPANN archaea reportedly comprise 15-26% of the archaeal community within marine oxygen deficient zone (ODZ) water columns, little is known about their metabolic capabilities in these ecosystems. We report 33 novel metagenome-assembled genomes belonging to DPANN phyla Nanoarchaeota, Pacearchaeota, Woesarchaeota, Undinarchaeota, Iainarchaeota, and SpSt-1190 from pelagic ODZs in the Eastern Tropical North Pacific and Arabian Sea. We find these archaea to be permanent, stable residents of all 3 major ODZs only within anoxic depths, comprising up to 1% of the total microbial community and up to 25-50% of archaea. ODZ DPANN appear capable of diverse metabolic functions, including fermentation, organic carbon scavenging, and the cycling of sulfur, hydrogen, and methane. Within a majority of ODZ DPANN, we identify a gene homologous to nitrous oxide reductase. Modeling analyses indicate the feasibility of a nitrous oxide reduction metabolism for host-attached symbionts, and the small genome sizes and reduced metabolic capabilities of most DPANN MAGs suggest host-associated lifestyles within ODZs.

"Candidatus Subterrananammoxibiaceae," a New Anammox Bacterial Family in Globally Distributed Marine and Terrestrial Subsurfaces

Bacteria specialized in anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) are widespread in many anoxic habitats and form an important functional guild in the global nitrogen cycle by consuming bio-available nitrogen for energy rather than biomass production. Due to their slow growth rates, cultivation-independent approaches have been used to decipher their diversity across environments. However, their full diversity has not been well recognized. Here, we report a new family of putative anammox bacteria, "Candidatus Subterrananammoxibiaceae," existing in the globally distributed terrestrial and marine subsurface (groundwater and sediments of estuary, deep-sea, and hadal trenches). We recovered a high-quality metagenome-assembled genome of this family, tentatively named "Candidatus Subterrananammoxibius californiae," from a California groundwater site. The "Ca. Subterrananammoxibius californiae" genome not only contains genes for all essential components of anammox metabolism (e.g., hydrazine synthase, hydrazine oxidoreductase, nitrite reductase, and nitrite oxidoreductase) but also has the capacity for urea hydrolysis. In an Arctic ridge sediment core where redox zonation is well resolved, "Ca. Subterrananammoxibiaceae" is confined within the nitrate-ammonium transition zone where the anammox rate maximum occurs, providing environmental proof of the anammox activity of this new family. Phylogenetic analysis of nitrite oxidoreductase suggests that a horizontal transfer facilitated the spreading of the nitrite oxidation capacity between anammox bacteria (in the Planctomycetota phylum) and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria from Nitrospirota and Nitrospinota. By recognizing this new anammox family, we propose that all lineages within the "Ca. Brocadiales" order have anammox capacity. IMPORTANCE Microorganisms called anammox bacteria are efficient in removing bioavailable nitrogen from many natural and human-made environments. They exist in almost every anoxic habitat where both ammonium and nitrate/nitrite are present. However, only a few anammox bacteria have been cultured in laboratory settings, and their full phylogenetic diversity has not been recognized. Here, we present a new bacterial family whose members are present across both the terrestrial and marine subsurface. By reconstructing a high-quality genome from the groundwater environment, we demonstrate that this family has all critical enzymes of anammox metabolism and, notably, also urea utilization. This bacterium family in marine sediments is also preferably present in the niche where the anammox process occurs. These findings suggest that this novel family, named "Candidatus Subterrananammoxibiaceae," is an overlooked group of anammox bacteria, which should have impacts on nitrogen cycling in a range of environments.

Microscale dynamics promote segregated denitrification in diatom aggregates sinking slowly in bulk oxygenated seawater

Sinking marine particles drive the biological pump that naturally sequesters carbon from the atmosphere. Despite their small size, the compartmentalized nature of particles promotes intense localized metabolic activity by their bacterial colonizers. Yet the mechanisms promoting the onset of denitrification, a metabolism that arises once oxygen is limiting, remain to be established. Here we show experimentally that slow sinking aggregates composed of marine diatoms-important primary producers for global carbon export-support active denitrification even among bulk oxygenated water typically thought to exclude anaerobic metabolisms. Denitrification occurs at anoxic microsites distributed throughout a particle and within microns of a particle's boundary, and fluorescence-reporting bacteria show nitrite can be released into the water column due to segregated dissimilatory reduction of nitrate and nitrite. Examining intact and broken diatoms as organic sources, we show slowly leaking cells promote more bacterial growth, allow particles to have lower oxygen, and generally support greater denitrification.

Partitioning of the denitrification pathway and other nitrite metabolisms within global oxygen deficient zones

Oxygen deficient zones (ODZs) account for about 30% of total oceanic fixed nitrogen loss via processes including denitrification, a microbially mediated pathway proceeding stepwise from NO3- to N2. This process may be performed entirely by complete denitrifiers capable of all four enzymatic steps, but many organisms possess only partial denitrification pathways, either producing or consuming key intermediates such as the greenhouse gas N2O. Metagenomics and marker gene surveys have revealed a diversity of denitrification genes within ODZs, but whether these genes co-occur within complete or partial denitrifiers and the identities of denitrifying taxa remain open questions. We assemble genomes from metagenomes spanning the ETNP and Arabian Sea, and map these metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) to 56 metagenomes from all three major ODZs to reveal the predominance of partial denitrifiers, particularly single-step denitrifiers. We find niche differentiation among nitrogen-cycling organisms, with communities performing each nitrogen transformation distinct in taxonomic identity and motility traits. Our collection of 962 MAGs presents the largest collection of pelagic ODZ microorganisms and reveals a clearer picture of the nitrogen cycling community within this environment.

Aerobic bacteria produce nitric oxide via denitrification and promote algal population collapse

Microbial interactions govern marine biogeochemistry. These interactions are generally considered to rely on exchange of organic molecules. Here we report on a novel inorganic route of microbial communication, showing that algal-bacterial interactions between Phaeobacter inhibens bacteria and Gephyrocapsa huxleyi algae are mediated through inorganic nitrogen exchange. Under oxygen-rich conditions, aerobic bacteria reduce algal-secreted nitrite to nitric oxide (NO) through denitrification, a well-studied anaerobic respiratory mechanism. The bacterial NO is involved in triggering a cascade in algae akin to programmed cell death. During death, algae further generate NO, thereby propagating the signal in the algal population. Eventually, the algal population collapses, similar to the sudden demise of oceanic algal blooms. Our study suggests that the exchange of inorganic nitrogen species in oxygenated environments is a potentially significant route of microbial communication within and across kingdoms.

Nitrite accumulation and anammox bacterial niche partitioning in Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge sediments

By consuming ammonium and nitrite, anammox bacteria form an important functional guild in nitrogen cycling in many environments, including marine sediments. However, their distribution and impact on the important substrate nitrite has not been well characterized. Here we combined biogeochemical, microbiological, and genomic approaches to study anammox bacteria and other nitrogen cycling groups in two sediment cores retrieved from the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge (AMOR). We observed nitrite accumulation in these cores, a phenomenon also recorded at 28 other marine sediment sites and in analogous aquatic environments. The nitrite maximum coincides with reduced abundance of anammox bacteria. Anammox bacterial abundances were at least one order of magnitude higher than those of nitrite reducers and the anammox abundance maxima were detected in the layers above and below the nitrite maximum. Nitrite accumulation in the two AMOR cores co-occurs with a niche partitioning between two anammox bacterial families (Candidatus Bathyanammoxibiaceae and Candidatus Scalinduaceae), likely dependent on ammonium availability. Through reconstructing and comparing the dominant anammox genomes (Ca. Bathyanammoxibius amoris and Ca. Scalindua sediminis), we revealed that Ca. B. amoris has fewer high-affinity ammonium transporters than Ca. S. sediminis and lacks the capacity to access alternative substrates and/or energy sources such as urea and cyanate. These features may restrict Ca. Bathyanammoxibiaceae to conditions of higher ammonium concentrations. These findings improve our understanding about nitrogen cycling in marine sediments by revealing coincident nitrite accumulation and niche partitioning of anammox bacteria.

Porous marine snow differentially benefits chemotactic, motile, and nonmotile bacteria

Particulate organic carbon settling through the marine water column is a key process that regulates the global climate by sequestering atmospheric carbon. The initial colonization of marine particles by heterotrophic bacteria represents the first step in recycling this carbon back to inorganic constituents-setting the magnitude of vertical carbon transport to the abyss. Here, we demonstrate experimentally using millifluidic devices that, although bacterial motility is essential for effective colonization of a particle leaking organic nutrients into the water column, chemotaxis specifically benefits at intermediate and higher settling velocities to navigate the particle boundary layer during the brief window of opportunity provided by a passing particle. We develop an individual-based model that simulates the encounter and attachment of bacterial cells with leaking marine particles to systematically evaluate the role of different parameters associated with bacterial run-and-tumble motility. We further use this model to explore the role of particle microstructure on the colonization efficiency of bacteria with different motility traits. We find that the porous microstructure facilitates additional colonization by chemotactic and motile bacteria, and fundamentally alters the way nonmotile cells interact with particles due to streamlines intersecting with the particle surface.

Ratio of Electron Donor to Acceptor Influences Metabolic Specialization and Denitrification Dynamics in Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a Mixed Carbon Medium

Denitrifying microbes sequentially reduce nitrate (NO3 -) to nitrite (NO2 -), NO, N2O, and N2 through enzymes encoded by nar, nir, nor, and nos. Some denitrifiers maintain the whole four-gene pathway, but others possess partial pathways. Partial denitrifiers may evolve through metabolic specialization whereas complete denitrifiers may adapt toward greater metabolic flexibility in nitrogen oxide (NOx -) utilization. Both exist within natural environments, but we lack an understanding of selective pressures driving the evolution toward each lifestyle. Here we investigate differences in growth rate, growth yield, denitrification dynamics, and the extent of intermediate metabolite accumulation under varying nutrient conditions between the model complete denitrifier Pseudomonas aeruginosa and a community of engineered specialists with deletions in the denitrification genes nar or nir. Our results in a mixed carbon medium indicate a growth rate vs. yield tradeoff between complete and partial denitrifiers, which varies with total nutrient availability and ratios of organic carbon to NOx -. We found that the cultures of both complete and partial denitrifiers accumulated nitrite and that the metabolic lifestyle coupled with nutrient conditions are responsible for the extent of nitrite accumulation.

On the natural spatio-temporal heterogeneity of South Pacific nitrous oxide

Nitrous oxide (N₂O) is a powerful greenhouse gas and ozone depleting substance, but its natural sources, especially marine emissions, are poorly constrained. Localized high concentrations have been observed in the oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) of the tropical Pacific but the impacts of El Niño cycles on this key source region are unknown. Here we show atmospheric monitoring station measurements in Samoa combined with atmospheric back-trajectories provide novel information on N₂O variability across the South Pacific. Remarkable elevations in Samoan concentrations are obtained in air parcels that pass over the OMZ. The data further reveal that average concentrations of these OMZ air parcels are augmented during La Niña and decrease sharply during El Niño. The observed natural spatial heterogeneities and temporal dynamics in marine N₂O emissions can confound attempts to develop future projections of this climatically active gas as low oxygen zones are predicted to expand and El Niño cycles change.

Ocean oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) are known to emit the powerful greenhouse gas N₂O, but global emission dynamics are not constrained. Here the authors use air trajectory analyses and find that air masses pick up N₂O as they pass over OMZs, and that overall concentrations are elevated during La Niña events.

Organic Matter Loading Modifies the Microbial Community Responsible for Nitrogen Loss in Estuarine Sediments

Coastal marine sediments, as locations of substantial fixed nitrogen loss, are very important to the nitrogen budget and to the primary productivity of the oceans. Coastal sediment systems are also highly dynamic and subject to periodic natural and anthropogenic organic substrate additions. The response to organic matter by the microbial community involved in nitrogen loss processes was evaluated using mesocosms of Chesapeake Bay sediments. Over the course of a 50-day incubation, rates of anammox and denitrification were measured weekly using (15)N tracer incubations, and samples were collected for genetic analysis. Rates of both nitrogen loss processes and gene abundances associated with them corresponded loosely, probably because heterogeneities in sediments obscured a clear relationship. The rates of denitrification were stimulated more, and the fraction of nitrogen loss attributed to anammox slightly reduced, by the higher organic matter addition. Furthermore, the large organic matter pulse drove a significant and rapid shift in the denitrifier community composition as determined using a nirS microarray, indicating that the diversity of these organisms plays an essential role in responding to anthropogenic inputs. We also suggest that the proportion of nitrogen loss due to anammox in these coastal estuarine sediments may be underestimated due to temporal dynamics as well as from methodological artifacts related to conventional sediment slurry incubation approaches.

Connecting the dots: linking nitrogen cycle gene expression to nitrogen fluxes in marine sediment mesocosms

Connecting molecular information directly to microbial transformation rates remains a challenge, despite the availability of molecular methods to investigate microbial biogeochemistry. By combining information on gene abundance and expression for key genes with quantitative modeling of nitrogen fluxes, we can begin to understand the scales on which genetic signals vary and how they relate to key functions. We used quantitative PCR of DNA and cDNA, along with biogeochemical modeling to assess how the abundance and expression of microbes responsible for two steps in the nitrogen cycle changed over time in estuarine sediment mesocosms. Sediments and water were collected from coastal Massachusetts and maintained in replicated 20 L mesocosms for 45 days. Concentrations of all major inorganic nitrogen species were measured daily and used to derive rates of nitrification and denitrification from a Monte Carlo-based non-negative least-squares analysis of finite difference equations. The mesocosms followed a classic regeneration sequence in which ammonium released from the decomposition of organic matter was subsequently oxidized to nitrite and then further to nitrate, some portion of which was ultimately denitrified. Normalized abundances of ammonia oxidizing archaeal ammonia monoxoygenase (amoA) transcripts closely tracked rates of ammonia oxidation throughout the experiment. No such relationship, however, was evident between denitrification rates and the normalized abundance of nitrite reductase (nirS and nirK) transcripts. These findings underscore the complexity of directly linking the structure of the microbial community to rates of biogeochemical processes.

Organic matter stoichiometry, flux, and oxygen control nitrogen loss in the ocean

Biologically available nitrogen limits photosynthesis in much of the world ocean. Organic matter (OM) stoichiometry had been thought to control the balance between the two major nitrogen removal pathways-denitrification and anammox-but the expected proportion of 30% anammox derived from mean oceanic OM is rarely observed in the environment. With incubations designed to directly test the effects of stoichiometry, however, we showed that the ratio of anammox to denitrification depends on the stoichiometry of OM supply, as predicted. Furthermore, observed rates of nitrogen loss increase with the magnitude of OM supply. The variable ratios between denitrification and anammox previously observed in the ocean are thus attributable to localized variations in OM quality and quantity and do not necessitate a revision to the global nitrogen cycle.

Controls on nitrogen loss processes in Chesapeake Bay sediments

The flux of fixed nitrogen into the marine environment is increasing as a direct result of anthropogenic nitrogen loading, but the controls on the mechanisms responsible for the removal of this increased supply are not well constrained. The fate of fixed nitrogen via mineralization and nitrogen loss processes was investigated by simulating a settling event of organic matter (OM) in mesocosms containing Chesapeake Bay sediments. Microorganisms rapidly transformed the OM during the course of a seven week incubation ultimately leading to nitrogen loss via denitrification and anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox). The microbial community responded quickly to the OM amendment suggesting that estuarine sediments can buffer the natural system against sudden injections of organic material. Two different levels of organic matter amendment resulted in different magnitudes of ammonium and nitrite accumulation during the incubation, but both treatments exhibited the same overall sequence of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) accumulation and removal. An inverse least-squares analysis coupled to a Michaelis-Menten prognostic model was conducted to estimate rates of nitrogen transformations from the measured DIN concentrations. Whereas the rates were higher at higher OM, the percentage of nitrogen lost via anammox was constant at 44.3 ± 0.3%. The stoichiometry of organic matter and the allochthonous supply of ammonium determined the relative contribution of anammox and denitrification to overall nitrogen loss. Further, in situ thermodynamics based on measured concentrations suggested that the energy favorability of denitrification and anammox plays a role in determining the timing of these processes as OM remineralization progresses.