Microbial and Isotopic Evidence for Methane Cycling in Hydrocarbon-Containing Groundwater from the Pennsylvania Region

Vigneron, Adrien; Bishop, Andrew N.; Alsop, Eric; Hull, Kellie; Rhodes, Ileana; Hendricks, R. C.; Head, Ian M.; Tsesmetzis, Nicolas

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2017.00593

Cited by 31 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…In any case, the origin of riverine CH 4 highly enriched in heavy isotopes (our first option) is still conjectural and cannot be resolved with our current data set. Reasonable assumptions include methanogenesis from highly oxidised organic matter, aerobic oxidation of CH 4 produced upstream or groundwater discharge, which can carry dissolved CH 4 quite enriched in heavy isotopes (Vigneron et al, 2017). Additional sampling upstream is required to investigate these hypotheses.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon and Hydrogen Isotope Signatures of Dissolved Methane in the Scheldt Estuary

Jacques

Gkritzalis

Tison

et al. 2020

Estuaries and Coasts

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We collected water samples from the Scheldt estuary during December 2015 and November 2016 for methane (CH 4) concentration and isotopic composition (δ 13 C and δD values) analyses, to investigate the origin of the excess dissolved CH 4 , which is a common feature in estuaries. The Scheldt estuary is a eutrophic, heterotrophic tidal estuary, located at the border between Belgium and the Netherlands. The gas chromatography and mass spectrometry analyses revealed (1) variable dissolved CH 4 concentrations reaching up to 302.6 nM in surface waters of the Port of Antwerp, which fits within the higher range of values reported for European estuaries, and (2) the presence of surprisingly high isotopic signatures in the upper estuary. While microbial CH 4 production dominates in the lower part of the estuary, we observe a clear trend towards isotopically heavier CH 4 upstream where isotopic signatures as enriched as − 25.2‰ for carbon and + 101‰ for hydrogen were measured. We conclude that microbial oxidation of most of the CH 4 pool could explain such enrichments, but that the origin of riverine CH 4 enriched isotopic signatures remains to be explained. This study identifies peculiar features associated with CH 4 cycling in the Scheldt estuary, paving the way for a more thorough biogeochemical quantification of various production/removal processes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon and Hydrogen Isotope Signatures of Dissolved Methane in the Scheldt Estuary

Jacques

Gkritzalis

Tison

et al. 2020

Estuaries and Coasts

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“…The 16S rRNA, mcrA, dsrAB, and multiheme cytochrome c genes and transcripts were extracted from the metagenome and metatranscriptome sequence data using vsearch against publicly available data sets for 16S rRNA (Silva release 129) (86), mcrA (42), dsrAB (43), and multiheme cytochrome c (29). Taxonomic affiliations of extracted genes were assigned with BLAST against their respective database using QIIME 1.9.1 (87).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contrasting Pathways for Anaerobic Methane Oxidation in Gulf of Mexico Cold Seep Sediments

et al. 2019

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Gulf of Mexico sediments harbor numerous hydrocarbon seeps associated with high sedimentation rates and thermal maturation of organic matter. These ecosystems host abundant and diverse microbial communities that directly or indirectly metabolize components of the emitted fluid. To investigate microbial function and activities in these ecosystems, metabolic potential (metagenomic) and gene expression (metatranscriptomic) analyses of two cold seep areas of the Gulf of Mexico were carried out. Seeps emitting biogenic methane harbored microbial communities dominated by archaeal anaerobic methane oxidizers of phylogenetic group 1 (ANME-1), whereas seeps producing fluids containing a complex mixture of thermogenic hydrocarbons were dominated by ANME-2 lineages. Metatranscriptome measurements in both communities indicated high levels of expression of genes for methane metabolism despite their distinct microbial communities and hydrocarbon composition. In contrast, the transcription level of sulfur cycle genes was quite different. In the thermogenic seep community, high levels of transcripts indicative of syntrophic anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) coupled to sulfate reduction were detected. This syntrophic partnership between the dominant ANME-2 and sulfate reducers potentially involves direct electron transfer through multiheme cytochromes. In the biogenic methane seep, genes from an ANME-1 lineage that are potentially involved in polysulfide reduction were highly expressed, suggesting a novel bacterium-independent anaerobic methane oxidation pathway coupled to polysulfide reduction. The observed divergence in AOM activities provides a new model for bacterium-independent AOM and emphasizes the variation that exists in AOM pathways between different ANME lineages.IMPORTANCECold seep sediments are complex and widespread marine ecosystems emitting large amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and other hydrocarbons. Within these sediments, microbial communities play crucial roles in production and degradation of hydrocarbons, modulating oil and gas emissions to seawater. Despite this ecological importance, our understanding of microbial functions and methane oxidation pathways in cold seep ecosystems is poor. Based on gene expression profiling of environmental seep sediment samples, the present work showed that (i) the composition of the emitted fluids shapes the microbial community in general and the anaerobic methanotroph community specifically and (ii) AOM by ANME-2 in this seep may be coupled to sulfate reduction byDeltaproteobacteriaby electron transfer through multiheme cytochromes, whereas AOM by ANME-1 lineages in this seep may involve a different, bacterium-independent pathway, coupling methane oxidation to elemental sulfur/polysulfide reduction.

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“…Sequences with low quality scores or flagged as chimeras using UChime were removed. Alignment and determination of the taxonomic affiliation of the reads were carried out using BLAST against Silva release 119 62 , dsrAB 63 and mcrA 64 sequences databases as references. Raw sequences were deposited in the NCBI public database under Bioproject PRJNA385797.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative metagenomics of hydrocarbon and methane seeps of the Gulf of Mexico

Vigneron

Alsop

Cruaud

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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Oil and gas percolate profusely through the sediments of the Gulf of Mexico, leading to numerous seeps at the seafloor, where complex microbial, and sometimes animal communities flourish. Sediments from three areas (two cold seeps with contrasting hydrocarbon composition and a site outside any area of active seepage) of the Gulf of Mexico were investigated and compared. Consistent with the existence of a seep microbiome, a distinct microbial community was observed in seep areas compared to sediment from outside areas of active seepage. The microbial community from sediments without any influence from hydrocarbon seepage was characterized by Planctomycetes and the metabolic potential was consistent with detrital marine snow degradation. By contrast, in seep samples with methane as the principal hydrocarbon, methane oxidation by abundant members of ANME-1 was likely the predominant process. Seep samples characterized by fluids containing both methane and complex hydrocarbons, were characterized by abundant Chloroflexi (Anaerolinaceae) and deltaproteobacterial lineages and exhibited potential for complex hydrocarbon degradation. These different metabolic capacities suggested that microorganisms in cold seeps can potentially rely on other processes beyond methane oxidation and that the hydrocarbon composition of the seep fluids may be a critical factor structuring the seafloor microbial community composition and function.

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Microbial and Isotopic Evidence for Methane Cycling in Hydrocarbon-Containing Groundwater from the Pennsylvania Region

Cited by 31 publications

References 68 publications

Carbon and Hydrogen Isotope Signatures of Dissolved Methane in the Scheldt Estuary

Carbon and Hydrogen Isotope Signatures of Dissolved Methane in the Scheldt Estuary

Contrasting Pathways for Anaerobic Methane Oxidation in Gulf of Mexico Cold Seep Sediments

Comparative metagenomics of hydrocarbon and methane seeps of the Gulf of Mexico

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