Microbial chemolithoautotrophs are abundant in salt marsh sediment following long-term experimental nitrate enrichment.

Abstract

Long-term anthropogenic nitrate (NO3-) enrichment is a serious threat to many coastal systems. Nitrate reduction coupled with the oxidation of reduced forms of sulfur is conducted by chemolithoautotrophic microbial populations in a process that decreases nitrogen (N) pollution. However, little is known about the diversity and distribution of microbes capable of carbon fixation within salt marsh sediment and how they respond to long-term NO3- loading. We used genome-resolved metagenomics to characterize the distribution, phylogenetic relationships, and adaptations important to microbial communities within NO3--enriched sediment. We found NO3- reducing sulfur oxidizers became dominant members of the microbial community throughout the top 25 cm of the sediment following long-term NO3- enrichment. We also found that most of the chemolithoautotrophic genomes recovered contained striking metabolic versatility, including the potential for complete denitrification and evidence of mixotrophy. Phylogenetic reconstruction indicated that similar carbon fixation strategies and metabolic versatility can be found in several phylogenetic groups, but the genomes recovered here represent novel organisms. Our results suggest that the role of chemolithoautotrophy within NO3--enriched salt marsh sediments may be quantitatively more important for retaining carbon and filtering NO3- than previously indicated and further inquiry is needed to explicitly measure their contribution to carbon turnover and removal of N pollution.