Predominance of Methanomicrobiales and diverse hydrocarbon–degrading taxa in the Appalachian coalbed biosphere revealed through metagenomics and genome–resolved metabolisms

Ross, Daniel E.; Lipus, Daniel; Gulliver, Djuna

doi:10.1111/1462-2920.16251

Predominance of Methanomicrobiales and diverse hydrocarbon–degrading taxa in the Appalachian coalbed biosphere revealed through metagenomics and genome–resolved metabolisms

Journal Article · Mon Nov 07 00:00:00 EST 2022 · Environmental Microbiology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.16251· OSTI ID:1958774

Ross, Daniel E. ^[1]; Lipus, Daniel ^[2]; Gulliver, Djuna ^[1]

National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA (United States)
National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA (United States); Oak Ridge Inst. for Science and Education (ORISE), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Brandenburg (Germany)

Coalbed deposits are a unique subsurface environment and represent an underutilized resource for methane generation. Microbial communities extant in coalbed deposits are responsible for key subsurface biogeochemical cycling and could be utilized to enhance methane production in areas where existing gas wells have depleted methane stores, or in coalbeds that are unmined, or conversely be utilized for mitigation of methane release. Here we utilize metagenomics and metagenome-assembled genomes to identify extant microbial lineages and genome-resolved microbial metabolisms of coalbed produced water, which has not yet been explored in the Appalachian Basin. Our analyses resulted in the recovery of over 40 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) from eight coalbed methane wells. The most commonly identified taxa among samples were hydrogenotrophic methanogens from the order Methanomicrobiales and these dominant MAGs were highly similar to one another. Conversely, low-abundance coalbed bacterial populations were taxonomically and functionally diverse, mostly belonging to a variety of Proteobacteria classes, and encoding various hydrocarbon solubilization and degradation pathways. Further, the data presented herein provides novel insights into Appalachian Basin coalbed microbial ecology, and our findings provide new perspectives on underrepresented Methanocalculus species and low-relative abundance bacterial assemblages in coalbed environments, and their potential roles in stimulation or mitigation of methane release.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, Morgantown, WV, and Albany, OR (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; USDOE Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM)

Grant/Contract Number:: 89243318CFE000003

OSTI ID:: 1958774

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1897297

Journal Information:: Environmental Microbiology, Journal Name: Environmental Microbiology Journal Issue: 12 Vol. 24; ISSN 1462-2912

Publisher:: WileyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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