Direct, mediator-free transfer of electrons between a microbial cell and a solid phase in its surrounding environment has been suggested to be a widespread and ecologically significant process. The high rates of microbial electron uptake observed during microbially influenced corrosion of iron [Fe(0)] and during microbial electrosynthesis have been considered support for a direct electron uptake in these microbial processes. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of direct electron uptake are unknown. We investigated the electron uptake characteristics of the Fe(0)-corroding and electromethanogenic archaeon Methanococcus maripaludis and discovered that free, surface-associated redox enzymes, such as hydrogenases and presumably formate dehydrogenases, are sufficient to mediate an apparent direct electron uptake. In genetic and biochemical experiments, we showed that these enzymes, which are released from cells during routine culturing, catalyze the formation of H2 or formate when sorbed to an appropriate redox-active surface. These low-molecular-weight products are rapidly consumed by M. maripaludis cells when present, thereby preventing their accumulation to any appreciable or even detectable level. Rates of H2 and formate formation by cell-free spent culture medium were sufficient to explain the observed rates of methane formation from Fe(0) and cathode-derived electrons by wild-type M. maripaludis as well as by a mutant strain carrying deletions in all catabolic hydrogenases. Our data collectively show that cell-derived free enzymes can mimic direct extracellular electron transfer during Fe(0) corrosion and microbial electrosynthesis and may represent an ecologically important but so far overlooked mechanism in biological electron transfer.

Anaerobic methane oxidation coupled to denitrification, also known as "nitrate/nitrite-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation" (n-damo), was discovered in 2006. Since then, only a few studies have identified this process and the associated microorganisms in natural environments. In aquatic sediments, the close proximity of oxygen-and nitrate-consumption zones can mask n-damo as aerobic methane oxidation. We therefore investigated the vertical distribution and the abundance of denitrifying methanotrophs related to Candidatus Methylomirabilis oxyfera with cultivation-independent molecular techniques in the sediments of Lake Constance. Additionally, the vertical distribution of methane oxidation and nitrate consumption zones was inferred from high-resolution microsensor profiles in undisturbed sediment cores. M. oxyfera-like bacteria were virtually absent at shallow-water sites (littoral sediment) and were very abundant at deep-water sites (profundal sediment). In profundal sediment, the vertical distribution of M. oxyfera-like bacteria showed a distinct peak in anoxic layers that coincided with the zone of methane oxidation and nitrate consumption, a strong indication for n-damo carried out by M. oxyfera-like bacteria. Both potential n-damo rates calculated from cell densities (660-4,890 μmol CH 4 ·m ) were sufficiently high to prevent methane release from profundal sediment solely by this process. Additionally, when nitrate was added to sediment cores exposed to anoxic conditions, the n-damo zone reestablished well below the sediment surface, completely preventing methane release from the sediment. We conclude that the previously overlooked n-damo process can be the major methane sink in stable freshwater environments if nitrate is available in anoxic zones.n-damo | M. oxyfera-like bacteria | NC-10 bacteria | microsensor profiles |

Anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) with sulfate as terminal electron acceptor has been reported for various environments, including freshwater habitats, and also, nitrate and nitrite were recently shown to act as electron acceptors for methane oxidation in eutrophic freshwater habitats. Radiotracer experiments with sediment material of Lake Constance, an oligotrophic freshwater lake, were performed to follow 14 CO 2 formation from 14 CH 4 in sediment incubations in the presence of different electron acceptors, namely, nitrate, nitrite, sulfate, or oxygen. Whereas 14 CO 2 formation without and with sulfate addition was negligible, addition of nitrate increased 14 CO 2 formation significantly, suggesting that AOM could be coupled to denitrification. Nonetheless, denitrification-dependent AOM rates remained at least 1 order of magnitude lower than rates of aerobic methane oxidation. Using molecular techniques, putative denitrifying methanotrophs belonging to the NC10 phylum were detected on the basis of the pmoA and 16S rRNA gene sequences. These findings show that sulfate-dependent AOM was insignificant in Lake constant sediments. However, AOM can also be coupled to denitrification in this oligotrophic freshwater habitat, providing first indications that this might be a widespread process that plays an important role in mitigating methane emissions.Freshwater lakes account for 2 to 10% of the total emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane (1) and are therefore an important part of the global methane cycle (24, 56). The major part of methane is formed biologically by methanogenic archaea in anoxic environments, where alternative electron acceptors are lacking (8). Some methane is lost from the sediments due to ebullition or mixing events (5, 9), but most of it is readily oxidized by aerobic methanotrophic bacteria when they reach the oxic biosphere (17). Aerobic methanotrophs activate methane using molecular oxygen in a monooxygenase reaction to cleave the strong COH bond (28). Anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) with sulfate as electron acceptor is carried out by methanogen-like archaea, so-called anaerobic methanotrophic (ANME) archaea, in syntrophic cooperation with sulfate-reducing bacteria (3,19,20,57). Although no defined coculture is available to date (37, 38), metagenomic analysis (16, 33) and the discovery of an abundant, methyl coenzyme M reductase-like protein in microbial mats catalyzing AOM (32) provided indications that sulfate-dependent AOM in all probability operates as a reversal of methanogenesis. The energy gain (according to the change in the Gibbs free energy [⌬G°Ј]) in sulfate-dependent AOM according to equation 1 is close to the theoretical minimum for ATP synthesis (⌬G°Ј ϭ Ϫ20 kJ mol Ϫ1 ) (45), which could hardly feed two organisms in a syntrophic cooperation.Therefore, this process is preferentially observed in marine environments at Ͼ800-m water depths and under high methane pressures. AOM coupled to iron and manganese reduction (2) or humic compound reduction (47) has been report...

Direct, shuttle-free uptake of extracellular, cathode-derived electrons has been postulated as a novel mechanism of electron metabolism in some prokaryotes that may also be involved in syntrophic electron transport between two microorganisms. Experimental proof for direct uptake of cathodic electrons has been mostly indirect and has been based on the absence of detectable concentrations of molecular hydrogen. However, hydrogen can be formed as a transient intermediate abiotically at low cathodic potentials (<−414 mV) under conditions of electromethanogenesis. Here we provide genetic evidence for hydrogen-independent uptake of extracellular electrons. Methane formation from cathodic electrons was observed in a wild-type strain of the methanogenic archaeon Methanococcus maripaludis as well as in a hydrogenase-deletion mutant lacking all catabolic hydrogenases, indicating the presence of a hydrogenase-independent mechanism of electron catabolism. In addition, we discovered a new route for hydrogen or formate production from cathodic electrons: Upon chemical inhibition of methanogenesis with 2-bromo-ethane sulfonate, hydrogen or formate accumulated in the bioelectrochemical cells instead of methane. These results have implications for our understanding on the diversity of microbial electron uptake and metabolism.

The abundances and activities of aerobic methane-oxidizing bacteria (MOB) were compared in depth profiles of littoral and profundal sediments of Lake Constance, Germany. Abundances were determined by quantitative PCR (qPCR) targeting the pmoA gene and by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), and data were compared to methane oxidation rates calculated from high-resolution concentration profiles. qPCR using type I MOB-specific pmoA primers indicated that type I MOB represented a major proportion in both sediments at all depths. FISH indicated that in both sediments, type I MOB outnumbered type II MOB at least fourfold. Results obtained with both techniques indicated that in the littoral sediment, the highest numbers of methanotrophs were found at a depth of 2 to 3 cm, corresponding to the zone of highest methane oxidation activity, although no oxygen could be detected in this zone. In the profundal sediment, highest methane oxidation activities were found at a depth of 1 to 2 cm, while MOB abundance decreased gradually with sediment depth. In both sediments, MOB were also present at high numbers in deeper sediment layers where no methane oxidation activity could be observed.