Age, metabolisms, and potential origin of dominant anammox bacteria in the global oxygen deficient zones

Abstract

Anammox bacteria inhabiting oxygen deficient zones (ODZs) are a major functional group mediating fixed nitrogen loss in the global ocean. However, many basic questions regarding the diversity, broad metabolisms, origin, and adaptive mechanisms of ODZ anammox bacteria remain unaddressed. Here we report two novel metagenome-assembled genomes of anammox bacteria affiliated with the Scalindua genus, which represent most, if not all, of the anammox bacteria in the global ODZs. Metagenomic read recruiting and comparison with historical data show that they are ubiquitously present in all three major ODZs. Beyond the core anammox metabolism, both organisms contain cyanase and the more dominant one encodes a urease, indicating most ODZ anammox bacteria can utilize cyanate and urea in addition to ammonium. Molecular clock analysis suggests that the evolutionary radiation of these bacteria into ODZs occurred no earlier than 310 million years ago, about one billion years after the emergence of the earliest modern-type ODZs. Different strains of the ODZ Scalindua species are also found in benthic sediments, and the first ODZ Scalindua likely derived from the benthos. Compared to benthic strains of the same clade, ODZ Scalindua uniquely encode genes for urea utilization but lost genes related to growth arrest, flagellum synthesis, and chemotaxis, presumably for adaptation to thrive in the global ODZ waters. Our findings expand the known metabolism and evolutionary history of the bacteria controlling the global nitrogen budget.