Research article | Highlight paper |
| 30 Jun 2023
All about nitrite: exploring nitrite sources and sinks in the eastern tropical North Pacific oxygen minimum zone
John C. Tracey,Andrew R. Babbin,Elizabeth Wallace,Xin Sun,Katherine L. DuRussel,Claudia Frey,Donald E. Martocello III,Tyler Tamasi,Sergey Oleynik,and Bess B. Ward
Nitrite is a nexus in nitrogen turnover, especially in oxygen minimum zones. This study works out new details of its specific role and adds new evidence for anaerobic nitrite oxidation. Furthermore, it shows that nitrogen recycling (nitrate reduction and nitrite oxidation) is quantitatively more important than loss processes.
Nitrite is a nexus in nitrogen turnover, especially in oxygen minimum zones. This study works...
Nitrogen (N) is essential for life; thus, its availability plays a key role in determining marine productivity. Using incubations of seawater spiked with a rare form of N measurable on a mass spectrometer, we quantified microbial pathways that determine marine N availability. The results show that pathways that recycle N have higher rates than those that result in its loss from biomass and present new evidence for anaerobic nitrite oxidation, a process long thought to be strictly aerobic.
Nitrogen (N) is essential for life; thus, its availability plays a key role in determining marine...