Methanogenium frigidum sp. nov., a Psychrophilic, H2-Using Methanogen from Ace Lake, Antarctica

Abstract

Methanogeniumfrigidum sp. nov. was isolated from the perennially cold, anoxic hypolimnion of Ace Lake in the Vesfold Hills of Antarctica. The cells were psychrophilic, exhibiting most rapid growth at 15°C and no growth at temperatures above 18 to 20°C. The cells were irregular, nonmotile caccoids (diameter, 1.2 to 2.5 pm) that occurred singly and grew by CO, reduction by using H, as a reductant. Formate could replace H,, but growth was slower. Acetate, methanol, and trimethylamine were not catabolized. Cells grew with acetate as the only organic compound in the culture medium, but growth was much faster in medium also supplemented with peptones and yeast extract. The cells were slightly halophilic; good growth occurred in medium supplemented with 350 to 600 mM Na+, but no growth occurred with 100 or 850 mM Na+. The pH range for growth was 6.5 to 7.9; no growth occurred at pH 6.0 or 8.5. Growth was slow (maximum specific growth rate, 0.24 day-'; doubling time, 2.9 days). This is the first report of a psychrophilic methanogen growing by CO, reduction.

Temporal evolution of methane cycling and phylogenetic diversity of archaea in sediments from a deep-sea whale-fall in Monterey Canyon, California

“…Despite this limitation, a few species of Methanogenium have been observed and even isolated from psychrophilic sulfate-rich marine sediments (Parkes et al, 1990;Franzmann and Liu, 1997;Chong et al, 2002;Purdy et al, 2003;Kendall and Boone, 2006). High abundance of the methylcoenzyme M reductase (mcrA) gene was documented in Methanogenium-dominated sediments in this study, suggesting that despite low temperatures, methanogenic activity belonging to H 2 -utilizing methanogens may occur in sediments underlying the whale-fall.…”

Survival of Methanogenic Archaea from Siberian Permafrost under Simulated Martian Thermal Conditions

“…SMA-21. The survival rate of Methanogenium frigidum, a psychrophilic methanogen isolated from Ace Lake in Antarctica (Franzmann et al 1997), was higher than that of the other reference organisms. Nevertheless, the metabolic activity of this strain also drastically decreased after exposure.…”

“…8 μm in length. Methanosarcina barkeri DSM 8687 was originated from peat bog in northern Germany (Sherer et al 1983) and Methanogenium frigidum DSM 16458 (Franzmann et al 1997) was originated from the water column of the Ace Lake, Antarctica. Both cultures were obtained from the Deutsche Sammlung für Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen (DSMZ; Braunschweig, Germany).…”

“…So far, only a few strains (e.g., Methanococcoides burtonii, Methanogenium frigidum, Methanosarcina spec.) have been isolated from cold habitats (Franzmann et al 1992(Franzmann et al , 1997Simankova et al 2003). Although the metabolism of methanogenic archaea has been studied in different environments (Ni and Boone 1998;Garcia et al 2000;Eicher 2001;Lange and Ahring 2001), only a few studies have focussed on the ecology of the methanogenic archaea in permafrost ecosystems (Vishnivetskaya et al 2000;Høj et al 2005).…”

Methanogenium frittonii Harris et al. 1996 is a later synonym of Methanoculleus thermophilus (Rivard and Smith 1982) Maestrojuán et al. 1990

“…Alcohols may serve as alternative hydrogen donors in some strains. Data from Romesser et al (1979), Rivard & Smith (1982), Harris et al (1984), Zabel et al (1985), Widdel et al (1988), Maestrojuán et al (1990), Franzmann et al (1997), Zellner et al (1998), Dianou et al (2001), Asakawa & Nagaoka (2003), Chong et al (2002) and Mikucki et al (2003). +, Positive in all strains; d, different reaction in different species.…”