title: Methyl-coenzyme M reductase genes: unique functional markers for methanogenic and anaerobic methane-oxidizing Archaea.
abstract: In many anoxic environments, methanogenesis is the predominant terminal electron accepting process involved in the mineralization of organic matter, which is catalyzed by methanogenic Archaea. These organisms represent a unique but phylogenetically diverse guild of prokaryotes, which can be conveniently tracked in the environment by targeting the mcrA gene as a functional marker. This gene encodes the alpha subunit of the methyl-coenzyme M reductase (MCR), which catalyzes the last step in methanogenesis and is present in all methanogens. Cultivation-independent analysis of methanogenic communities involves the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the mcrA gene from extracted community DNA, comparative analysis of mcrA clone libraries, or PCR-based fingerprinting analysis by terminal restriction fragment polymorphism analysis (T-RFLP). It has also been suggested that anaerobic methane-oxidizing Archaea possess MCR, which facilitates detection of this novel group of "reverse methanogens" as well using the mcrA gene as a functional marker.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Friedrich
mesh_terms: D001105:Archaea / Q000235:genetics*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D019641:DNA, Archaeal / Q000302:isolation & purification; D017753:Ecosystem; D019766:Genes, Archaeal / Q000235:genetics*; D017013:Methanobacteriaceae / Q000235:genetics; D017018:Methanomicrobiales / Q000235:genetics; D017021:Methanosarcina barkeri / Q000235:genetics; D019640:Methanosarcinales / Q000235:genetics; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012988:Soil Microbiology
chemical_list: D019641:DNA, Archaeal; D010088:Oxidoreductases; C021572:methyl coenzyme M reductase