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DOI 10.1111/1462-2920.14728
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Title (Primary) Communal metabolism by Methylococcaceae and Methylophilaceae is driving rapid aerobic methane oxidation in sediments of a shallow seep near Elba, Italy
Author Taubert, M.; Grob, C.; Crombie, A.; Howat, A.M.; Burns, O.J.; Weber, M.; Lott, C.; Kaster, A.-K.; Vollmers, J.; Jehmlich, N. ORCID logo ; von Bergen, M.; Chen, Y.; Murrell, J.C.
Source Titel Environmental Microbiology
Year 2019
Department MOLSYB
Volume 21
Issue 10
Page From 3780
Page To 3795
Language englisch
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Abstract The release of abiotic methane from marine seeps into the atmosphere is a major source of this potent greenhouse gas. Methanotrophic microorganisms in methane seeps use methane as carbon and energy source, thus significantly mitigating global methane emissions. Here, we investigated microbial methane oxidation at the sediment–water interface of a shallow marine methane seep. Metagenomics and metaproteomics, combined with 13C‐methane stable isotope probing, demonstrated that various members of the gammaproteobacterial family Methylococcaceae were the key players for methane oxidation, catalysing the first reaction step to methanol. We observed a transfer of carbon to methanol‐oxidizing methylotrophs of the betaproteobacterial family Methylophilaceae, suggesting an interaction between methanotrophic and methylotrophic microorganisms that allowed for rapid methane oxidation. From our microcosms, we estimated methane oxidation rates of up to 871 nmol of methane per gram sediment per day. This implies that more than 50% of methane at the seep is removed by microbial oxidation at the sediment–water interface, based on previously reported in situ methane fluxes. The organic carbon produced was further assimilated by different heterotrophic microbes, demonstrating that the methane‐oxidizing community supported a complex trophic network. Our results provide valuable eco‐physiological insights into this specialized microbial community performing an ecosystem function of global relevance.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=22159
Taubert, M., Grob, C., Crombie, A., Howat, A.M., Burns, O.J., Weber, M., Lott, C., Kaster, A.-K., Vollmers, J., Jehmlich, N., von Bergen, M., Chen, Y., Murrell, J.C. (2019):
Communal metabolism by Methylococcaceae and Methylophilaceae is driving rapid aerobic methane oxidation in sediments of a shallow seep near Elba, Italy
Environ. Microbiol. 21 (10), 3780 - 3795 10.1111/1462-2920.14728