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Zonation of the active methane-cycling community in deep subsurface sediments of the Peru trench

The production and anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) by microorganisms is widespread in organic-rich deep subseafloor sediments. Yet, the organisms that carry out these processes remain largely unknown. Here we identify members of the methane-cycling microbial community in deep subsurface, hydrat...

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Autores principales: Lever, Mark A., Alperin, Marc J., Hinrichs, Kai-Uwe, Teske, Andreas
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10213550/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37250063
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1192029
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author Lever, Mark A.
Alperin, Marc J.
Hinrichs, Kai-Uwe
Teske, Andreas
author_facet Lever, Mark A.
Alperin, Marc J.
Hinrichs, Kai-Uwe
Teske, Andreas
author_sort Lever, Mark A.
collection PubMed
description The production and anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) by microorganisms is widespread in organic-rich deep subseafloor sediments. Yet, the organisms that carry out these processes remain largely unknown. Here we identify members of the methane-cycling microbial community in deep subsurface, hydrate-containing sediments of the Peru Trench by targeting functional genes of the alpha subunit of methyl coenzyme M reductase (mcrA). The mcrA profile reveals a distinct community zonation that partially matches the zonation of methane oxidizing and –producing activity inferred from sulfate and methane concentrations and carbon-isotopic compositions of methane and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). McrA appears absent from sulfate-rich sediments that are devoid of methane, but mcrA sequences belonging to putatively methane-oxidizing ANME-1a-b occur from the zone of methane oxidation to several meters into the methanogenesis zone. A sister group of ANME-1a-b, referred to as ANME-1d, and members of putatively aceticlastic Methanothrix (formerly Methanosaeta) occur throughout the remaining methanogenesis zone. Analyses of 16S rRNA and mcrA-mRNA indicate that the methane-cycling community is alive throughout (rRNA to 230 mbsf) and active in at least parts of the sediment column (mRNA at 44 mbsf). Carbon-isotopic depletions of methane relative to DIC (−80 to −86‰) suggest mostly methane production by CO(2) reduction and thus seem at odds with the widespread detection of ANME-1 and Methanothrix. We explain this apparent contradiction based on recent insights into the metabolisms of both ANME-1 and Methanothricaceae, which indicate the potential for methanogenetic growth by CO(2) reduction in both groups.
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spelling pubmed-102135502023-05-27 Zonation of the active methane-cycling community in deep subsurface sediments of the Peru trench Lever, Mark A. Alperin, Marc J. Hinrichs, Kai-Uwe Teske, Andreas Front Microbiol Microbiology The production and anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) by microorganisms is widespread in organic-rich deep subseafloor sediments. Yet, the organisms that carry out these processes remain largely unknown. Here we identify members of the methane-cycling microbial community in deep subsurface, hydrate-containing sediments of the Peru Trench by targeting functional genes of the alpha subunit of methyl coenzyme M reductase (mcrA). The mcrA profile reveals a distinct community zonation that partially matches the zonation of methane oxidizing and –producing activity inferred from sulfate and methane concentrations and carbon-isotopic compositions of methane and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). McrA appears absent from sulfate-rich sediments that are devoid of methane, but mcrA sequences belonging to putatively methane-oxidizing ANME-1a-b occur from the zone of methane oxidation to several meters into the methanogenesis zone. A sister group of ANME-1a-b, referred to as ANME-1d, and members of putatively aceticlastic Methanothrix (formerly Methanosaeta) occur throughout the remaining methanogenesis zone. Analyses of 16S rRNA and mcrA-mRNA indicate that the methane-cycling community is alive throughout (rRNA to 230 mbsf) and active in at least parts of the sediment column (mRNA at 44 mbsf). Carbon-isotopic depletions of methane relative to DIC (−80 to −86‰) suggest mostly methane production by CO(2) reduction and thus seem at odds with the widespread detection of ANME-1 and Methanothrix. We explain this apparent contradiction based on recent insights into the metabolisms of both ANME-1 and Methanothricaceae, which indicate the potential for methanogenetic growth by CO(2) reduction in both groups. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-05-12 /pmc/articles/PMC10213550/ /pubmed/37250063 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1192029 Text en Copyright © 2023 Lever, Alperin, Hinrichs and Teske. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Microbiology
Lever, Mark A.
Alperin, Marc J.
Hinrichs, Kai-Uwe
Teske, Andreas
Zonation of the active methane-cycling community in deep subsurface sediments of the Peru trench
title Zonation of the active methane-cycling community in deep subsurface sediments of the Peru trench
title_full Zonation of the active methane-cycling community in deep subsurface sediments of the Peru trench
title_fullStr Zonation of the active methane-cycling community in deep subsurface sediments of the Peru trench
title_full_unstemmed Zonation of the active methane-cycling community in deep subsurface sediments of the Peru trench
title_short Zonation of the active methane-cycling community in deep subsurface sediments of the Peru trench
title_sort zonation of the active methane-cycling community in deep subsurface sediments of the peru trench
topic Microbiology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10213550/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37250063
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1192029
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