Acetogens and Acetoclastic Methanosarcinales Govern Methane Formation in Abandoned Coal Mines

Beckmann, Sabrina; Lueders, Tillmann; Krüger, Martin; Netzer, Frederick von; Engelen, Bert; Cypionka, Heribert

doi:10.1128/aem.02818-10

Cited by 97 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Group 12 also contained abundant OTUs affiliated with acetogenic Acetobacterium, while associated production waters harbored methanogenic archaea affiliated with acetoclastic Methanosarcina. Indeed, the high abundance of potential acetogenic and methanogenic microbes agrees with previous reports implicating these taxa in syntrophic coal-to-methane transformations (41), where uncultured Rhodobacteraceae members identified here may play important roles in initial aromatic hydrocarbon degradation, as previously reported for representative isolates (42,43). Metagenome sequencing and binning.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 77%

Patterns of Endemism and Habitat Selection in Coalbed Microbial Communities

Lawson

Strachan

Williams³

et al. 2015

Appl Environ Microbiol

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dMicrobially produced methane, a versatile, cleaner-burning alternative energy resource to fossil fuels, is sourced from a variety of natural and engineered ecosystems, including marine sediments, anaerobic digesters, shales, and coalbeds. There is a prevailing interest in developing environmental biotechnologies to enhance methane production. Here, we use small-subunit rRNA gene sequencing and metagenomics to better describe the interplay between coalbed methane (CBM) well conditions and microbial communities in the Alberta Basin. Our results show that CBM microbial community structures display patterns of endemism and habitat selection across the Alberta Basin, consistent with observations from other geographical locations. While some phylum-level taxonomic patterns were observed, relative abundances of specific taxonomic groups were localized to discrete wells, likely shaped by local environmental conditions, such as coal rank and depth-dependent physicochemical conditions. To better resolve functional potential within the CBM milieu, a metagenome from a deep volatile-bituminous coal sample was generated. This sample was dominated by Rhodobacteraceae genotypes, resolving a near-complete population genome bin related to Celeribacter sp. that encoded metabolic pathways for the degradation of a wide range of aromatic compounds and the production of methanogenic substrates via acidogenic fermentation. Genomic comparisons between the Celeribacter sp. population genome and related organisms isolated from different environments reflected habitat-specific selection pressures that included nitrogen availability and the ability to utilize diverse carbon substrates. Taken together, our observations reveal that both endemism and metabolic specialization should be considered in the development of biostimulation strategies for nonproductive wells or for those with declining productivity.T he deposition of plant-derived organic matter over geological time has resulted in the formation of stratified hydrocarbon resource environments known as coalbeds. This prevalent energy resource has fueled human development for thousands of years with concomitant environmental impacts, including landscape alteration, waste production, and greenhouse gas emissions (1, 2). In contrast to solid fuel, cleaner-burning coalbed methane (CBM) has become an increasingly attractive global energy resource. While some fraction of CBM is produced under thermogenic conditions, recent studies indicate that microbial communities inhabiting coalbed ecosystems contribute substantially to methane production (3). This has sparked both scientific and biotechnological interest in coalbed microbial communities to enhance CBM production from wells with low methane content or declining productivity (4-6).Microbial diversity surveys using small-subunit rRNA (SSU; or 16S rRNA) gene sequencing have been conducted across geographically distinct coalbed ecosystems (7-11) and enrichment cultures (6, 12). Taxonomic groups, including Firmicutes, Spirochetes, Bacteroidete...

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 77%

Patterns of Endemism and Habitat Selection in Coalbed Microbial Communities

Lawson

Strachan

Williams³

et al. 2015

Appl Environ Microbiol

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“…The existence of a large number of Hydrogenophaga in coal and rock samples (Table 2) might be the reason why few hydrogenotrophic methanogens were detected at the Liulin site, given that members of Hydrogenophaga are typically described as being hydrogen-utilizing bacteria (Willems et al, 1989), and have been shown to be active in the enrichment of methanogenesis amended with coal using stable-isotope probing (SIP) (Beckmann et al, 2011). Fermentative bacteria inhabiting the CBM reservoir may be factors in the biodegradation of coal to fuel methanogens (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pyrosequencing reveals the dominance of methylotrophic methanogenesis in a coal bed methane reservoir associated with Eastern Ordos Basin in China

Guo

Liu

et al. 2012

International Journal of Coal Geology

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a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f oIt is generally believed that biogenic coal bed methane (CBM) is an end product of coal biodegradation by methanogenic archaea and syntrophic bacteria. In this work, the archaeal and bacterial communities of CBM reservoir associated with Ordos Basin in China were investigated using 454 pyrosequencing. Sampling produced water, coal and rock in the reservoir, a total of 46,598 sequence reads were obtained. All archaea were methanogens with the genus Methanolobus predominating. The genus consisted of 81.18% of pyrosequencing reads in water sample and > 99% in coal and rock samples. Although the phylum Proteobacteria was the main component of all samples, bacterial communities in coal and rock samples were similar at the genus level, which were distinctly separated with water sample. The results strongly suggested that methylotrophic methanogenesis governed the biogenic CBM formation. The separation of microbial communities between water and coal, rock samples should be considered when investigating the process of coal biodegradation and the generation of new biogenic CBM.

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“…These ndings greatly expand the known metabolic capabilities of Methanosaeta, which are abundant not only in anaerobic digesters, 19,20 but also in a diversity of methanogenic soils and sediments. [36][37][38][39] Methanosaeta is considered to produce more methane on Earth than any other methanogen, due to its ubiquitous distribution and its high affinity for acetate, the precursor of more than half of the methane in most methanogenic environments. 21 However, the energy yield from the conversion of acetate to methane is low (À75.7 kJ mol À1 methane) and the ability of Methanosaeta to also produce methane with electrons derived from DIET may add to their competitive advantage.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new model for electron flow during anaerobic digestion: direct interspecies electron transfer to Methanosaeta for the reduction of carbon dioxide to methane

Rotaru

Shrestha

Liu

et al. 2014

Energy Environ. Sci.

1,146

720

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a Anaerobic conversion of organic wastes and biomass to methane is an important bioenergy strategy, which depends on poorly understood mechanisms of interspecies electron transfer to methanogenic microorganisms. Metatranscriptomic analysis of methanogenic aggregates from a brewery wastewater digester, coupled with fluorescence in situ hybridization with specific 16S rRNA probes, revealed that Methanosaeta species were the most abundant and metabolically active methanogens. Methanogens known to reduce carbon dioxide with H 2 or formate as the electron donor were rare. AlthoughMethanosaeta have previously been thought to be restricted to acetate as a substrate for methane production, Methanosaeta in the aggregates had a complete complement of genes for the enzymes necessary for the reduction of carbon to methane, and transcript abundance for these genes was high.Furthermore, Geobacter species, the most abundant bacteria in the aggregates, highly expressed genes for ethanol metabolism and for extracellular electron transfer via electrically conductive pili, suggesting that Geobacter and Methanosaeta species were exchanging electrons via direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET). This possibility was further investigated in defined co-cultures of Geobacter metallireducens and Methanosaeta harundinacea which stoichiometrically converted ethanol to methane.Transcriptomic, radiotracer, and genetic analysis demonstrated that M. harundinacea accepted electrons via DIET for the reduction of carbon dioxide to methane. The discovery that Methanosaeta species, which are abundant in a wide diversity of methanogenic environments, are capable of DIET has important implications not only for the functioning of anaerobic digesters, but also for global methane production. Broader contextIn this study we report a fundamentally new concept for the microbial ecology of anaerobic digestion, one of the oldest bioenergy strategies. The reliance of methanogenic communities on interspecies electron transfer has been recognized for over forty years, but it has been thought that only H 2 or formate served as the interspecies electron carriers. However, the nding that Methanosaeta species can make direct electrical connections with Geobacter species, accepting electrons for the reduction of carbon dioxide to methane, demonstrates that direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) is an alternative to interspecies H 2 / formate transfer. DIET appears to predominate over interspecies H 2 /formate transfer in upow anaerobic digesters converting brewery waste to methane, and the metatranscriptomic approach described here provides a tool to discriminate between pathways for interspecies electron transfer in other digester designs, treating other types of wastes or biomass. Methanosaeta species are also ubiquitous in methanogenic soils and sediments, suggesting that a substantial portion of global methane production could be derived from DIET.

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Acetogens and Acetoclastic Methanosarcinales Govern Methane Formation in Abandoned Coal Mines

Cited by 97 publications

References 37 publications

Patterns of Endemism and Habitat Selection in Coalbed Microbial Communities

Patterns of Endemism and Habitat Selection in Coalbed Microbial Communities

Pyrosequencing reveals the dominance of methylotrophic methanogenesis in a coal bed methane reservoir associated with Eastern Ordos Basin in China

A new model for electron flow during anaerobic digestion: direct interspecies electron transfer to Methanosaeta for the reduction of carbon dioxide to methane

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