title: Activity and diversity of methanotrophic bacteria at methane seeps in eastern Lake Constance sediments.
abstract: The activity and community structure of aerobic methanotrophic communities were investigated at methane seeps (pockmarks) in the littoral and profundal zones of an oligotrophic freshwater lake (Lake Constance, Germany). Measurements of potential methane oxidation rates showed that sediments inside littoral pockmarks are hot spots of methane oxidation. Potential methane oxidation rates at littoral pockmark sites exceeded the rates of the surrounding sediment by 2 orders of magnitude. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis of the pmoA gene revealed major differences in the methanotrophic community composition between littoral pockmarks and the surrounding sediments. Clone library analysis confirmed that one distinct Methylobacter-related group dominates the community at littoral pockmarks. In profundal sediments, the differences between pockmarks and surrounding sediments were found to be less pronounced.
authors.affiliation: Fachbereich Biologie, Universität Konstanz, D-78457 Constance, Germany.
authors.forename: Jörg S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Deutzmann
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wörner
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schink
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D017753:Ecosystem; D005618:Fresh Water / Q000382:microbiology*; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000382:microbiology*; D005858:Germany; D008697:Methane / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D008772:Methylococcaceae / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D008697:Methane