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Abstract

An uncultivated, aerobic chemolithotrophic Sulfurimonas species with a reduced genome is abundant across diverse, hydrogen-rich hydrothermal plumes in the deep ocean.
Members of the bacterial genus Sulfurimonas (phylum Campylobacterota) dominate microbial communities in marine redoxclines and are important for sulfur and nitrogen cycling. Here we used metagenomics and metabolic analyses to characterize a Sulfurimonas from the Gakkel Ridge in the Central Arctic Ocean and Southwest Indian Ridge, showing that this species is ubiquitous in non-buoyant hydrothermal plumes at Mid Ocean Ridges across the global ocean. One Sulfurimonas species, (U)Sulfurimonas pluma, was found to be globally abundant and active in cold (<0-4 degrees C), oxygen-saturated and hydrogen-rich hydrothermal plumes. Compared with other Sulfurimonas species, S-U. pluma has a reduced genome (>17%) and genomic signatures of an aerobic chemolithotrophic metabolism using hydrogen as an energy source, including acquisition of A2-type oxidase and loss of nitrate and nitrite reductases. The dominance and unique niche of S-U. pluma in hydrothermal plumes suggest an unappreciated biogeochemical role for Sulfurimonas in the deep ocean.