title: Biomineralization mediated by anaerobic methane-consuming cell consortia.
abstract: Anaerobic methanotrophic archaea (ANME) play a significant role in global carbon cycles. These organisms consume more than 90% of ocean-derived methane and influence the landscape of the seafloor by stimulating the formation of carbonates. ANME frequently form cell consortia with sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) of the family Deltaproteobacteria. We investigated the mechanistic link between ANME and the natural consortium by examining anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) metabolism and the deposition of biogenetic minerals through high-resolution imaging analysis. All of the cell consortia found in a sample of marine sediment were encrusted by a thick siliceous envelope consisting of laminated and cementing substances, whereas carbonate minerals were not found attached to cells. Beside SRB cells, other bacteria (such as Betaproteobacteria) were found to link with the consortia by adhering to the siliceous crusts. Given the properties of siliceous minerals, we hypothesize that ANME cell consortia can interact with other microorganisms and their substrates via their siliceous envelope, and this mechanism of silicon accumulation may serve in clay mineral formation in marine sedimentary environments. A mechanism for biomineralization mediated by AOM consortia was suggested based on the above observations.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People's Republic of China.|State Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering, School of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Yi-Liang
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and Environments, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
authors.forename: Gen-Tao
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and Environments, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
authors.forename: Han
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of the Earth's Deep Interior, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Yang-Ting
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People's Republic of China.|State Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering, School of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People's Republic of China.|State Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering, School of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Feng-Ping
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D020562:Betaproteobacteria / Q000502:physiology; D002254:Carbonates / Q000378:metabolism; D019605:Euryarchaeota / Q000378:metabolism*; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000382:microbiology; D008697:Methane / Q000378:metabolism*; D059013:Microbial Consortia / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D002254:Carbonates; D008697:Methane