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Anaerobic Degradation of Alkanes by Marine Archaea

Journal Article · · Annual Review of Microbiology
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4]
  1. MARUM, Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany,,; Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany
  2. MARUM, Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany,,; Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany; Current affiliation: Systems Biology Department, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología (CNB-CSIC), Madrid, Spain
  3. MARUM, Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany,,; Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences and Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA,
  4. MARUM, Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany,,; Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany; Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany,

Alkanes are saturated apolar hydrocarbons that range from their simplest form, methane, to high-molecular-weight compounds. Although alkanes were once considered biologically recalcitrant under anaerobic conditions, microbiological investigations have now identified several microbial taxa that can anaerobically degrade alkanes. Here we review recent discoveries in the anaerobic oxidation of alkanes with a specific focus on archaea that use specific methyl coenzyme M reductases to activate their substrates. Our understanding of the diversity of uncultured alkane-oxidizing archaea has expanded through the use of environmental metagenomics and enrichment cultures of syntrophic methane-, ethane-, propane-, and butane-oxidizing marine archaea with sulfate-reducing bacteria. A recently cultured group of archaea directly couples long-chain alkane degradation with methane formation, expanding the range of substrates used for methanogenesis. This article summarizes the rapidly growing knowledge of the diversity, physiology, and habitat distribution of alkane-degrading archaea.

Research Organization:
California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
DOE Contract Number:
SC0020373
OSTI ID:
1980847
Journal Information:
Annual Review of Microbiology, Vol. 76, Issue 1; ISSN 0066-4227
Publisher:
Annual Reviews
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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