Quantification of mcrA by quantitative fluorescent PCR in sediments from methane seep of the Nankai Trough.
A quantitative fluorogenic PCR method for group-specific methyl coenzyme M reductase subunit A genes (mcrA) from methanotrophic archaea was established and applied to the characterization of microbial communities in anoxic methane seep sediments at the accretionary prism of the Nankai Trough. All of the previously identified subgroups of anaerobic methanotroph (ANME) mcrA genes were detected in the cores up to 25 cm below the seafloor, but distributional patterns of mcrA genes were found to differ according to depth. These findings suggest a distinct distribution of phylogenetically and physiologically diverse methanotrophic archaea that mediate methane oxidation in the anoxic sediments. This quantification method will contribute to future investigations of methanotrophic microbial ecosystems in anoxic marine sediments.
Nunoura
Takuro
T
Subground Animalcule Retrieval Program, Extremobiosphere Research Center, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science & Technology, Yokosuka, Japan. takuron@jamstec.go.jp
Oida
Hanako
H
Toki
Tomohiro
T
Ashi
Juichiro
J
Takai
Ken
K
Horikoshi
Koki
K
D000693:Anaerobiosis; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial / Q000379:methods; D019605:Euryarchaeota / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000382:microbiology*; D007564:Japan; D008697:Methane / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics*
D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D010088:Oxidoreductases; C023895:methyl coenzyme M methylreductase; D008697:Methane