To understand the composition and structure of denitrifying communities in the oxygen-deficient zone off the Pacific coast of Mexico, the molecular diversity of nir genes from sediments obtained at four stations was examined by using a PCR-based cloning approach. A total of 50 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) for nirK and 82 OTUs for nirS were obtained from all samples. Forty-four of the nirS clones and 31 of the nirK clones were sequenced; the levels of similarity of the nirS clones were 52 to 92%, and the levels of similarity of the nirS clones were 50 to 99%. The percentages of overlappin...
