“…The results showed that the nirB (3.6%), narG (5.5%), narH (2.5%), and nasA (2.8%) genes related to the nitrate cycle and the ppk (6.5%), pstA (4.3%), pstB (4.2%), pstC (4.4%), and pstS (6.4%) genes related to the phosphate cycle were highly expressed in all samples ( Supplementary Figure S6 ), and most (nitrate: nirB / narG / narH/nasA ; phosphorus: pstA / pstB / pstC / pstS ) were expressed significantly higher in the lake water than in the river water and sediment ( Figure 4 ). These genes are closely related to nitrate reduction, phosphate absorption, and transport (Yu et al, 2018 ; Li et al, 2023 ; Liu et al, 2023 ). On this basis, the main microorganisms contributing these genes with high expression in lakes were identified in this study through the combination of species annotation and gene abundance calculation ( Supplementary Figure S7 ; the detailed descriptions are shown in the Supplementary Text description of the analysis of key microorganisms contributing nitrogen and phosphorus genes).…”