Resumen
- The Louisiana Shelf in the Gulf of Mexico experiences recurrent bottom water hypoxia under summertime eutrophic conditions. The onset, maintenance, and breakdown of hypoxia are associated with dynamic microbial biogeochemical cycles. However, the distribution of microbial taxa and metabolisms across Shelf oxygen gradients remains under‐characterized. We combined biogeochemical analyses of nitrogen (N) distributions and metabolic rates with metagenomic and metatranscriptomic analysis of summertime Shelf waters. Samples from an east–west transect during July 2012 revealed an inverse relationship between nitrite and oxygen concentrations, with concentrations exceeding 1 μmol L−1 at ∼ 50% oxygen saturation and reaching 4.6 μmol L−1 at the most oxygen‐depleted sites.