Abstract
Ni.tro.so.pe.la'gi.cus. N.L. masc. adj.
nitrosus
nitrous; L. masc. adj.
pelagicus
of the open sea; N.L. masc. n.
Nitrosopelagicus
a nitrite producer of the open sea.
The genus
Candidatus
Nitrosopelagicus is composed of marine ammonia‐oxidizing archaea, almost all of which are uncultivated. They are found in shallow waters (<200 m depth) of the oligotrophic tropical, subtropical, and temperate open oceans. A single species has been described,
Candidatus
Nitrosopelagicus brevis, which couples growth with the oxidation of ammonia to nitrite. One described strain (
Ca
. N. brevis U25) is capable of hydrolyzing urea to supply the ammonia required for growth. Cells are obligately aerobic, small, and nonmotile rods. They grow free‐living, not associated with surfaces. No growth enhancement has been observed in the presence of organic carbon compounds; a reduction in the lag phase of growth has been observed with addition of α‐ketoacids, potentially serving as radical oxygen scavengers. Organisms are mesophilic and obligately marine. Lipid composition distinguishes
Ca
. Nitrosopelagicus from
Nitrosopumilus
using glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraether (GDGT) distributions, with lower amounts of GDGT‐2 and higher amounts of GDGT‐0 and GDGT‐1 found in
Ca
. Nitrosopelagicus. Abundance of
Ca
. Nitrospelagicus‐like organisms is correlated with nitrification rates, suggesting that these organisms are the dominant ammonia oxidizers in epipelagic and upper mesopelagic environments of the low‐ and mid‐latitude open oceans.
DNA G + C content (mol%)
: 33.1.
Type species
:
Candidatus
Nitrosopelagicus brevis
Santoro et al. 2015.
Taxonomic and Nomenclature Notes
According to the List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature (LPSN), the taxonomic status of the genus
Candidatus Nitrosopelagicus
is: preferred name (not correct name) (last update, February 2025)
*
.
LPSN classification:
Archaea
/
Thermoproteati
/
Thermoproteota
/
Nitrososphaeria
/
Nitrosopumilales
/
incertae sedis
/
Candidatus Nitrosopelagicus
The genus
Candidatus Nitrosopelagicus
can also be recovered in the Genome Taxonomy Database (GTDB) as
g__Nitrosopelagicus
(version v220)
**
.
GTDB classification:
d__Archaea
/
p__Thermoproteota
/
c__Nitrososphaeria
/
o__Nitrososphaerales
/
f__Nitrosopumilaceae
/
g__Nitrosopelagicus
*
Meier‐Kolthoff
et al. (
2022
).
Nucleic Acids Res
,
50
,
D801
–
D807
; DOI:
10.1093/nar/gkab902
**
Parks
et al. (
2022
).
Nucleic Acids Res
,
50
,
D785
–
D794
; DOI:
10.1093/nar/gkab776