Microbial diversity in sediments associated with surface-breaching gas hydrate mounds in the Gulf of Mexico

Mills, Heath J.; Hodges, Cassie; Wilson, Kristin R.; MacDonald, Ian R.; Sobecky, Patricia A.

doi:10.1016/s0168-6496(03)00191-0

Cited by 125 publications

(120 citation statements)

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“…From each phylogenetic group, one representative sequence was almost fully (∼1.5 kb) sequenced. The obtained 16S rDNA archaeal clone library showed a low diversity in comparison to previous publications of methane seep systems (Mills et al, 2003;Orphan et al, 2002;Teske et al, 2002). Two different phylogentic groups of archaea were detected ( Table 2).…”

Section: Archaeal and Bacterial Clone Librariesmentioning

confidence: 59%

“…Double bond positions of monoenoic FAs were determined by analysis as DMDS adducts according to previously reported methods (Moss and Lambert-Fair, 1989;Nichols et al, 1986). Briefly, an aliquot of a selected sample (dissolved in 50 µl n−hexane) was treated with DMDS (100 µl) and iodine-diethyl ether solution (20 µl, 6% w/v).…”

Section: Preparation Of Dimethyl Disulphide (Dmds) Adductsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Methane emission and consumption at a North Sea gas seep (Tommeliten area)

et al. 2005

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Abstract. The Tommeliten seepage area is part of the Greater Ekofisk area, which is situated above the Tommeliten Delta salt diapir in the central North Sea (56 • 29.90 N, 2 • 59.80 E, Norwegian Block 1/9, 75 m water depth). Here, cracks in a buried marl horizon allow methane to migrate into overlying clay-silt and sandy sediments. Hydroacoustic sediment echosounding showed several venting spots coinciding with the apex of marl domes where methane is released into the water column and potentially to the atmosphere. In the vicinity of the gas seeps, sea floor observations showed small mats of giant sulphide-oxidizing bacteria above patches of black sediments as well as carbonate crusts, which are exposed 10 to 50 cm above seafloor forming small reefs. These Methane-Derived Authigenic Carbonates (MDACs) contain 13 C-depleted, archaeal lipids indicating previous gas seepage and AOM activity. High amounts of sn2-hydroxyarchaeol relative to archaeol and low abundances of biphytanes in the crusts give evidence that ANaerobic MEthane-oxidising archaea (ANME) of the phylogenetic cluster ANME-2 were the potential mediators of Anaerobic Oxidation of Methane (AOM) at the time of carbonate formation. Small pieces of MDACs were also found subsurface at about 1.7 m sediment depth, associated with the AOM zone. This zone is characterized by elevated AOM and Sulphate Reduction (SR) rates, increased concentrations of 13 C-depleted tetraether derived biphytanes, and specific bacterial Fatty Acids (FA). Further biomarker and 16S rDNA based analyses of this horizon give evidence that AOM is mediated by archaea belongCorrespondence to: H. Niemann (hniemann@mpi-bremen.de) ing to the ANME-1b group and Sulphate Reducing Bacteria (SRB) most likely belonging to the Seep-SRB1 cluster. The zone of active methane consumption was restricted to a distinct horizon of about 20 cm. Concentrations of 13 Cdepleted lipid biomarkers (e.g. 500 ng g-dw −1 biphythanes, 140 ng g-dw −1 fatty acid ai-C 15:0 ), cell numbers (1.5×10 8 cells cm −3 ), AOM and SR rates (3 nmol cm −3 d −1 ) in the Tommeliten AOM zone are 2-3 orders of magnitude lower compared to AOM zones of highly active deep water cold seeps such as Hydrate Ridge or the Gulf of Mexico.

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Section: Archaeal and Bacterial Clone Librariesmentioning

confidence: 59%

Section: Preparation Of Dimethyl Disulphide (Dmds) Adductsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methane emission and consumption at a North Sea gas seep (Tommeliten area)

et al. 2005

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“…Yet, the mechanism of the intercellular transfer of reducing equivalents has not been elucidated, and axenic binary cultures have not been reported to date. ANME-2 is a prominent phylogenetic archaeal group at most marine cold gas seeps (Orphan et al, 2001;Mills et al, 2003;Wegener et al, 2008b;Knittel and Boetius, 2009) and some sulfatemethane transition zones where the temperature is 4-14 1C . Another group, ANME-3, occurs for instance at Haakon Mosby Mud Volcano (Niemann et al, 2006; in situ temperature À1.5 1C) and the Eastern Mediterranean seepages (Omoregie et al, 2008;14 1C).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermophilic anaerobic oxidation of methane by marine microbial consortia

Holler

Widdel

Knittel

et al. 2011

ISME J

174

223

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The anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) with sulfate controls the emission of the greenhouse gas methane from the ocean floor. AOM is performed by microbial consortia of archaea (ANME) associated with partners related to sulfate-reducing bacteria. In vitro enrichments of AOM were so far only successful at temperatures p25 1C; however, energy gain for growth by AOM with sulfate is in principle also possible at higher temperatures. Sequences of 16S rRNA genes and core lipids characteristic for ANME as well as hints of in situ AOM activity were indeed reported for geothermally heated marine environments, yet no direct evidence for thermophilic growth of marine ANME consortia was obtained to date. To study possible thermophilic AOM, we investigated hydrothermally influenced sediment from the Guaymas Basin. In vitro incubations showed activity of sulfate-dependent methane oxidation between 5 and 70 1C with an apparent optimum between 45 and 60 1C. AOM was absent at temperatures X75 1C. Long-term enrichment of AOM was fastest at 50 1C, yielding a 13-fold increase of methane-dependent sulfate reduction within 250 days, equivalent to an apparent doubling time of 68 days. The enrichments were dominated by novel ANME-1 consortia, mostly associated with bacterial partners of the deltaproteobacterial HotSeep-1 cluster, a deeply branching phylogenetic group previously found in a butane-amended 60 1C-enrichment culture of Guaymas sediments. The closest relatives (Desulfurella spp.; Hippea maritima) are moderately thermophilic sulfur reducers. Results indicate that AOM and ANME archaea could be of biogeochemical relevance not only in cold to moderate but also in hot marine habitats.

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“…However, recent work, combining phylogenetic analyses, lipid biomarker quantification and stable isotopic analysis, indicates that consortia of sulfate-reducing bacteria and Archaea work in syntrophy to mediate the anaerobic oxidation of methane in methane-rich sediments (Boetius et al, 2000;Pancost et al, 2000;Orphan et al, 2001a). We have extended these analyses to Gulf of Mexico sediments; there, lipid biomarker abundances and carbon isotopic compositions (Zhang et al, 2002(Zhang et al, , 2003, as well as phylogenetic analyses (Lanoi1 et al, 2001;Mills et al, 2003), indicate that AOM is mediated by similar archaeal-bacterial consortia as has been reported elsewhere. However, there has been no comparable work on the authigenic carbonate rocks in the Gulf of Mexico; in fact, there have been relatively few biomarker-based investigations of modern cold seep carbonate crusts and other authigenic carbonates (Elvert et al, 2000(Elvert et al, , 2001Thiel et al, 2001;Aloisi et al, 2002;Michaelis et al, 2002;Stadnitskaia et al, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Lipid biomarkers preserved in hydrate-associated authigenic carbonate rocks of the Gulf of Mexico

Pancost

Zhang

Tavacoli

et al. 2005

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

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Anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) is common in ocean-margin sediments, where it is mediated by consortia of Archaea and Bacteria and can result in the formation of authigenic carbonate, including extensive carbonate crusts. Previous work indicates that AOM is associated with Gulf of Mexico hydrocarbon seeps and is mediated by similar organisms as identified in other settings; however, biological investigations have not been done on the associated 13 C-depleted carbonates. Here, we show that 13 C-depleted archaeal and bacterial biomarkers are abundant in Gulf of Mexico authigenic carbonate rocks, revealing that AOM-mediating organisms are closely associated with carbonate authigenesis. Moreover, the rocks share general characteristics of the background (soft) sedimentary archaeal and bacterial community inferred from biomarker analysis, suggesting that the organisms associated with carbonate authigenesis are the same as those that live elsewhere in the hydrocarbon seep environment. This provides further evidence that AOM by Archaea and sulfate-reducing bacteria can result in the sequestration of significant quantities of methane-derived carbon in carbonate rocks. D

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Microbial diversity in sediments associated with surface-breaching gas hydrate mounds in the Gulf of Mexico

Cited by 125 publications

References 64 publications

Methane emission and consumption at a North Sea gas seep (Tommeliten area)

Methane emission and consumption at a North Sea gas seep (Tommeliten area)

Thermophilic anaerobic oxidation of methane by marine microbial consortia

Lipid biomarkers preserved in hydrate-associated authigenic carbonate rocks of the Gulf of Mexico

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