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Title: Elucidating Syntrophic Butyrate-Degrading Populations in Anaerobic Digesters Using Stable-Isotope-Informed Genome-Resolved Metagenomics

Journal Article · · mSystems
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Univ. of Waterloo, ON (Canada)
  2. National Inst. of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba (Japan)
  3. Wageningen Univ. (Netherlands)

Linking the genomic content of uncultivated microbes to their metabolic functions remains a critical challenge in microbial ecology. Resolving this challenge has implications for improving our management of key microbial interactions in biotechnologies such as anaerobic digestion, which relies on slow-growing syntrophic and methanogenic communities to produce renewable methane from organic waste. In this study, we combined DNA stable-isotope probing (SIP) with genome-centric metagenomics to recover the genomes of populations enriched in13C after growing on [13C]butyrate. Differential abundance analysis of recovered genomic bins across the SIP metagenomes identified two metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) that were significantly enriched in heavy [13C]DNA. Phylogenomic analysis assigned one MAG to the genus Syntrophomonas and the other MAG to the genus Methanothrix. Metabolic reconstruction of the annotated genomes showed that the Syntrophomonas genome encoded all the enzymes for beta-oxidizing butyrate, as well as several mechanisms for interspecies electron transfer via electron transfer flavoproteins, hydrogenases, and formate dehydrogenases. The Syntrophomonas genome shared low average nucleotide identity (<95%) with any cultured representative species, indicating that it is a novel species that plays a significant role in syntrophic butyrate degradation within anaerobic digesters. The Methanothrix genome contained the complete pathway for acetoclastic methanogenesis, indicating that it was enriched in13C from syntrophic acetate transfer. This study demonstrates the potential of stable-isotope-informed genome-resolved metagenomics to identifyin situinterspecies metabolic cooperation within syntrophic consortia important to anaerobic waste treatment as well as global carbon cycling.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC); USEPA; Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO); Wageningen Institute for Environmental and Climate Research (WIMEK)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231; RD835567; 323009; 040.15.014
OSTI ID:
1626172
Journal Information:
mSystems, Vol. 4, Issue 4; ISSN 2379-5077
Publisher:
American Society for MicrobiologyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 14 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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