Nitrate-driven metabolic interaction of sulfur-oxidizing bacterial communities in deposited marine sediments

Choemolithotrophic sulfur oxidizers play important roles in the geochemical cycles of sulfur and carbon. Although possible involvement of Sulfurimonas and Chromatiales bacteria in denitrification-dependent sulfur oxidation was found in deposited marine sediments with nitrate amendment, its direct evidence and ecological significance are not addressed. Here, we employed ultra-high-sensitivity stable isotope probing of rRNA (rRNA-SIP) with 13C-labeled bicarbonate to unveil the microbial CO2 fixation and resulting food web in the marine sediments.