School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Ford ES&T Building, Rm 1242, 311 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA.
Biochem Soc Trans. 2011 Dec;39(6):1859-63. doi: 10.1042/BST20110708.
Biological diversity in marine OMZs (oxygen minimum zones) is dominated by a complex community of bacteria and archaea whose anaerobic metabolisms mediate key steps in global nitrogen and carbon cycles. Molecular and physiological studies now confirm that OMZs also support diverse micro-organisms capable of utilizing inorganic sulfur compounds for energy metabolism. The present review focuses specifically on recent metagenomic data that have helped to identify the molecular basis for autotrophic sulfur oxidation with nitrate in the OMZ water column, as well as a cryptic role for heterotrophic sulfate reduction. Interpreted alongside marker gene surveys and process rate measurements, these data suggest an active sulfur cycle with potentially substantial roles in organic carbon input and mineralization and critical links to the OMZ nitrogen cycle. Furthermore, these studies have created a framework for comparing the genomic diversity and ecology of pelagic sulfur-metabolizing communities from diverse low-oxygen regions.
海洋 OMZs（氧气最小区）中的生物多样性主要由细菌和古菌组成的复杂群落所主导，它们的无氧代谢途径介导了全球氮和碳循环中的关键步骤。分子和生理学研究现在证实，OMZs 还支持着各种微生物，它们能够利用无机硫化合物进行能量代谢。本综述特别关注最近的宏基因组数据，这些数据有助于确定 OMZ 水柱中硝酸盐与自养硫氧化的分子基础，以及异养硫酸盐还原的隐蔽作用。这些数据与标记基因调查和过程速率测量相结合，表明硫循环活跃，可能在有机碳输入和矿化中具有重要作用，并与 OMZ 氮循环有重要联系。此外，这些研究为比较来自不同低氧区的浮游硫代谢群落的基因组多样性和生态学提供了一个框架。
