Aerobic and anaerobic methanotrophs in the Black Sea water column.
Inputs of CH(4) from sediments, including methane seeps on the continental margin and methane-rich mud volcanoes on the abyssal plain, make the Black Sea the world's largest surface water reservoir of dissolved methane and drive a high rate of aerobic and anaerobic oxidation of methane in the water column. Here we present the first combined organic geochemical and molecular ecology data on a water column profile of the western Black Sea. We show that aerobic methanotrophs type I are responsible for methane oxidation in the oxic water column and ANME-1- and ANME-2-related organisms for anaerobic methane oxidation. The occurrence of methanotrophs type I cells in the anoxic zone suggests that inactive cells settle to deeper waters. Molecular and biomarker results suggest that a clear distinction between the occurrence of ANME-1- and ANME-2-related lineages exists, i.e. ANME-1-related organisms are responsible for anaerobic methane oxidation below 600 m water depth, whereas ANME-2-related organisms are responsible for this process in the anoxic water column above approximately 600 m water depth.
Schubert
Carsten J
CJ
Department of Surface Waters, Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Seestrasse 79, CH-6047 Kastanienbaum, Switzerland. carsten.schubert@eawag.ch
Coolen
Marco J L
MJ
Neretin
Lev N
LN
Schippers
Axel
A
Abbas
Ben
B
Durisch-Kaiser
Edith
E
Wehrli
Bernhard
B
Hopmans
Ellen C
EC
Damsté
Jaap S Sinninghe
JS
Wakeham
Stuart
S
Kuypers
Marcel M M
MM
D001105:Archaea / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001483:Base Sequence; D019641:DNA, Archaeal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004586:Electrophoresis; D008055:Lipids / Q000032:analysis; D008697:Methane / Q000378:metabolism*; D008772:Methylococcaceae / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014871:Water Microbiology
D019641:DNA, Archaeal; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D008055:Lipids; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D008697:Methane