Salinity-driven shifts in the activity, diversity, and abundance of anammox bacteria of estuarine and coastal wetlands

•We examine the responses of anammox bacterial activity, diversity and abundance to the changing salinity.•The anammox process is stimulated by low-salinity treatment, while it is inhibited by high-salinity treatment.•Under global warming, salinity changes have an important effect on nitrogen removal by anammox.

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) plays a significant role in nitrogen removal in estuarine and coastal wetlands. However, the effects of changing salinity on anammox activity and anammox bacterial dynamics in these environments are not well understood. In this study, serial incubation experiments with a salinity gradient (0-40) were conducted to explore the responses of anammox bacterial activity, diversity and abundance to the changing salinity in the intertidal wetland of the Yangtze Estuary. Results show that activity and abundance of anammox bacteria firstly increased with the increase of salinity, but they were physiologically stressed by high-level salinity (>30) in a short-term incubation (<10 days). However, the treatment with salinity of 5 showed the maximal anammox activity and anammox bacterial abundance after a long-term incubation (60-120 days). In addition, Kuenenia (Kuenenia stuttgartiensis), Scalindua (Scalindua wagner, marina, and brodae), and three unknown anammox-like groups were observed, and anammox bacterial diversity increased along the salinity gradient. Anammox community structure varied slightly within the first 10-day incubation, but the dominant anammox bacterial group shifted from Kuenenia to Scalindua with increasing salinity after the long-term incubation. Overall, this study demonstrates the effects of salinity on anammox bacterial community and anammox activity, and suggests the importance of salinity in regulating the anammox process in estuarine and coastal wetlands with frequent salinity fluctuation.