Organic carbon produced by nitrifiers plays an important role in maintaining the microbial metabolism in the aphotic ocean layer with carbon and energy scarcity. However, the contribution of nitrifiers to organic carbon processing remains unclear. To explore how nitrification impacts the material cycle in the starved ecosystem, we set up an ultra-large volume, long-term incubation experiment. Seawater collected from the Halifax coastal ocean was pumped into the Aquatron Tower Tank located at Dalhousie University, Canada, and was incubated under dark conditions for 73 days. The results indicated that the relative abundance of nitrifiers increased and nitrification was strengthened in the dark system where energy and organic carbon were scarce. The importance of nitrogenous compounds in particulate materials increased over the course of the incubation. Correlation analysis showed that the relative abundances of nitrifiers and particulate organic compounds containing nitrogen were significantly and positively correlated. Furthermore, network analysis suggested that metabolic processes related to nitrogenous and aromatic compounds are most important to particle associated bacteria. This study suggests that the nitrifiers could produce a series of organic compounds that result in the alteration of organic matter composition by promoting the degradation of recalcitrant aromatic compounds, which has important implications for organic matter processing in the starved dark ecosystem.

硝化菌产生的有机碳在维持碳和能源稀缺的无光海洋层中的微生物代谢方面起着重要作用。然而，硝化剂对有机碳加工的贡献仍不清楚。为了探索硝化作用如何影响饥饿生态系统中的物质循环，我们建立了一个超大体积的长期孵化实验。从哈利法克斯沿海收集的海水被泵入位于加拿大达尔豪斯大学的 Aquatron Tower Tank，并在黑暗条件下培养 73 天。结果表明，在能量和有机碳稀缺的暗系统中，硝化菌的相对丰度增加，硝化作用增强。含氮化合物在颗粒材料中的重要性在培养过程中增加。相关性分析表明，硝化菌与含氮颗粒有机物的相对丰度呈显着正相关。此外，网络分析表明与含氮和芳香化合物相关的代谢过程对颗粒相关细菌最重要。这项研究表明，硝化菌可以产生一系列有机化合物，通过促进顽固的芳香化合物的降解来改变有机物的组成，这对饥饿黑暗生态系统中的有机物处理具有重要意义。相关性分析表明，硝化菌与含氮颗粒有机物的相对丰度呈显着正相关。此外，网络分析表明与含氮和芳香化合物相关的代谢过程对颗粒相关细菌最重要。这项研究表明，硝化菌可以产生一系列有机化合物，通过促进顽固的芳香化合物的降解来改变有机物的组成，这对饥饿黑暗生态系统中的有机物处理具有重要意义。相关性分析表明，硝化菌与含氮颗粒有机物的相对丰度呈显着正相关。此外，网络分析表明与含氮和芳香化合物相关的代谢过程对颗粒相关细菌最重要。这项研究表明，硝化菌可以产生一系列有机化合物，通过促进顽固的芳香化合物的降解来改变有机物的组成，这对饥饿黑暗生态系统中的有机物处理具有重要意义。