Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 21, 2026

The Benthic Exchange of O2, N2 and Dissolved Nutrients Using Small Core Incubations
Published on: August 3, 2016
Oxygen intrusions sustain aerobic nitrite-oxidizing bacteria in anoxic marine zones
Pearse J Buchanan1,2, Xin Sun1, J L Weissman3,4,5
1Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, CA, USA.
Abstract:
Anaerobic metabolisms are thought to dominate nitrogen cycling in anoxic marine zones (AMZs). However, thriving populations of aerobic nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) in AMZs challenge this assumption and remain unexplained. Using theory and modeling, we show how periodic oxygen intrusions sustain aerobic NOB in AMZs alongside more competitive aerobic heterotrophs. Ecological theory, supported by numerical simulations and genomics, frames NOB as opportunists exploiting a fleeting supply of oxygen. Consistent with in situ observations, simulated NOB contribute substantially to total oxygen consumption at AMZ boundaries, which implies that NOB may provide a major stabilizing feedback to AMZs. Fine-scale ocean currents increase the metabolic diversity in AMZs, which could stabilize AMZ volume under climate change.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Marine Microbial Ecology
Oxygen Requirements and Growth Patterns
Microbial Mats
Anoxygenic Photosynthesis
Deep Sea Microbial Ecology
Metabolism of Chemolithotrophs

