Interspecies hydrogen transfer between cyanobacteria and symbiotic bacteria drives nitrogen loss

Lingrui Kong, Yiming Feng, Ru Zheng, Xiaogang Wu, Yimin Mao, Jingqi Sun and Sitong Liu ()
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Lingrui Kong: Peking University
Yiming Feng: Peking University
Ru Zheng: Peking University
Xiaogang Wu: Peking University
Yimin Mao: Peking University
Jingqi Sun: Peking University
Sitong Liu: Peking University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Abstract The trace concentration of H2 in most ecosystems after the Earth’s oxidation has long caused the neglect of hydrogenotrophic denitrification for nitrogen loss. Here, we find that the interspecies hydrogen transfer between cyanobacteria and symbiotic bacteria within cyanobacterial aggregates is an undiscovered pathway for nitrogen loss. Cyanobacteria in aggregates can actively generate H2 under the diel cycle as an electron donor for neighboring hydrogenotrophic denitrifiers. The hydrogenotrophic denitrification in engineered cyanobacterial aggregates accounts for a nitrogen removal rate of 3.47 ± 0.42 mmol l−1 day−1. This value is nearly 50% of the heterotrophic denitrification rate, which far exceeds the general concept of the trace role. We find that H2-evolving cyanobacteria and hydrogenotrophic denitrifiers coexist in 84% of the 63 globally distributed cyanobacterial aggregates, where bloom colonies and phototrophic mats from hot springs are identified as potential hotspots. We suggest that interspecies hydrogen transfer within cyanobacterial aggregates is possibly responsible for the excessive nitrogen loss rate during cyanobacterial blooms where cyanobacterial aggregates persist.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-60327-x

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