Discovery of a novel methanogen prevalent in thawing permafrost

Mondav, Rhiannon; Woodcroft, Ben J.; Kim, Eun-Hae; McCalley, Carmody K.; Hodgkins, Suzanne B.; Crill, Patrick M.; Chanton, Jeffrey; Hurst, Gregory B.; VerBerkmoes, Nathan C.; Saleska, Scott R.; Hugenholtz, Philip; Rich, Virginia I.; Tyson, Gene W.

doi:10.1038/ncomms4212

Discovery of a novel methanogen prevalent in thawing permafrost

Journal Article · Fri Feb 14 04:00:00 EST 2014 · Nature Communications

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms4212· OSTI ID:1602278

Mondav, Rhiannon ^[1]; Woodcroft, Ben J.; Kim, Eun-Hae; McCalley, Carmody K.; Hodgkins, Suzanne B.; Crill, Patrick M.; Chanton, Jeffrey; Hurst, Gregory B.; VerBerkmoes, Nathan C.; Saleska, Scott R.; Hugenholtz, Philip; Rich, Virginia I.; Tyson, Gene W.

University of Queensland

Thawing permafrost promotes microbial degradation of cryo-sequestered and new carbon leading to the biogenic production of methane, creating a positive feedback to climate change. Here we determine microbial community composition along a permafrost thaw gradient in northern Sweden. Partially thawed sites were frequently dominated by a single archaeal phylotype, Candidatus ‘Methanoflorens stordalenmirensis’ gen. nov. sp. nov., belonging to the uncultivated lineage ‘Rice Cluster II’ (Candidatus ‘Methanoflorentaceae’ fam. nov.). Metagenomic sequencing led to the recovery of its near-complete genome, revealing the genes necessary for hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis. These genes are highly expressed and methane carbon isotope data are consistent with hydrogenotrophic production of methane in the partially thawed site. In addition to permafrost wetlands, ‘Methanoflorentaceae’ are widespread in high methane-flux habitats suggesting that this lineage is both prevalent and a major contributor to global methane production. In thawing permafrost, Candidatus ‘M. stordalenmirensis’ appears to be a key mediator of methane-based positive feedback to climate warming.

Research Organization:: Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23)

DOE Contract Number:: SC0004632

OSTI ID:: 1602278

Journal Information:: Nature Communications, Journal Name: Nature Communications Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 5; ISSN 2041-1723

Publisher:: Nature Publishing Group

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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