Overlooked role of heterotrophic prokaryotes in sulfur oxidation makes the sediment of the Bohai Sea a sufficient sink of hydrogen sulfide

Marine sediments are the active sites for the biogeochemical cycling of sulfur. Sulfate is used as a major terminal electron acceptor for anaerobic oxidation of organic compounds in marine sediments, and the produced sulfide is normally oxidized back to sulfate in upper sediments. However, it is unclear which microorganisms, metabolic pathways, and enzymes are mainly involved in the oxidation. We used metagenomics and metatranscriptomics to figure out how sulfide is oxidized in the Bohai Sea sediments.