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Title: Methanogenic Archaea dominate mature heartwood habitats of Eastern Cottonwood (Populus deltoides)

Journal Article · · New Phytologist
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.15346· OSTI ID:1460206
 [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3]
  1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Biosciences Division
  2. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Biosciences Division; Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
  3. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Biosciences Division; Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Microbiology
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Methane is a potent greenhouse gas which accounts for 20% of radiative forcing. Several reports from diverse forest types demonstrate that the direct emission of methane from living tree trunks may be a significant terrestrial methane emission source; ongoing debate in recent literature contests whether tree emissions are from due to methane transport from soils or from the wood environment itself. Contrastingly, reports of methanogens from wood of Populus tree species were prominent in the literature 40 years ago, but have not been revisited with modern molecular microbial ecology approaches. We examined the microbial communities associated with the heartwood and sapwood of Eastern Cottonwood (Populus deltoides) trees using Illumina rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. At sampling, trees often emitted fetid fluid or flammable gasses, and our data indicate both environments were primarily composed of microbial taxa associated with anaerobic environments. Methanogens were prominent in heartwood environments (mean 34% relative abundance) compared to sapwood environments (13%). Dominant OTUs were primarily classified as the acetoclastic Methanobacterium spp. Members of the Firmicutes phylum overall were 39% of sequences and in 42% greater abundance in sapwood over heartwood environments. Tree diameter at breast height was the strongest predictor of Methanogen abundance, but wood moisture content and pH were also significant predictors of taxon abundance and overall community composition patterns. In conclusion, our results show that unlike more well studied plant associated communities in the soil, roots, rhizosphere and phylosphere; wood associated communities are shaped by the unique environmental conditions of the habitat and may be prominent and overlooked sources of methane emissions in temperate forest systems.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1460206
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1459226
Journal Information:
New Phytologist, Vol. 0, Issue 0; ISSN 0028-646X
Publisher:
WileyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 45 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (4)

Methane emissions from tree stems: a new frontier in the global carbon cycle journal December 2018
Tree stem bases are sources of CH 4 and N 2 O in a tropical forest on upland soil during the dry to wet season transition journal November 2018
Automated measurements of greenhouse gases fluxes from tree stems and soils: magnitudes, patterns and drivers journal March 2019
Methane production and emissions in trees and forests journal January 2019

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Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
wood microbiome
methanogenesis
Populus deltoides
Archaea
heartwood
sapwood