Oxygen availability is a major factor in determining the composition of microbial communities involved in methane oxidation

Journal Article · Tue Feb 24 00:00:00 UTC 2015 · PeerJ

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.801 · OSTI ID:1904485

Hernandez, Maria E. ^[1]; Beck, David A.C. ^[2]; Lidstrom, Mary E. ^[2]; Chistoserdova, Ludmila ^[2]

---

1. University of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States); Institute of Ecology, Veracruz (Mexico); OSTI
2. University of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)

We have previously observed that methane supplied to lake sediment microbial communities as a substrate not only causes a response by bona fide methanotrophic bacteria, but also by non-methane-oxidizing bacteria, especially by members of the family Methylophilaceae. This result suggested that methane oxidation in this environment likely involves communities composed of different functional guilds, rather than a single type of microbe. To obtain further support for this concept and to obtain further insights into the factors that may define such partnerships, we carried out microcosm incubations with sediment samples from Lake Washington at five different oxygen tensions, while methane was supplied at the same concentration in each. Community composition was determined through 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing after 10 and 16 weeks of incubation. We demonstrate that, in support of our prior observations, the methane-consuming communities were represented by two major types: the methanotrophs of the family Methylococcaceae and by non-methanotrophic methylotrophs of the family Methylophilaceae. However, different species persisted under different oxygen tensions. At high initial oxygen tensions (150 to 225 µM) the major players were, respectively, species of the genera Methylosarcina and Methylophilus, while at low initial oxygen tensions (15 to 75 µM) the major players were Methylobacter and Methylotenera. These data suggest that oxygen availability is at least one major factor determining specific partnerships in methane oxidation. The data also suggest that speciation within Methylococcaceae and Methylophilaceae may be driven by niche adaptation tailored toward specific placements within the oxygen gradient.

• Research Organization: University of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: Mexican National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
• Grant/Contract Number: SC0010556
• OSTI ID: 1904485
• Journal Information: PeerJ, Journal Name: PeerJ Vol. 3; ISSN 2167-8359
• Publisher: PeerJ Inc.Copyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English