Global co‐occurrence of methanogenic archaea and methanotrophic bacteria in Microcystis aggregates

Summary Global warming and eutrophication contribute to the worldwide increase in cyanobacterial blooms, and the level of cyanobacterial biomass is strongly associated with rises in methane emissions from surface lake waters. Hence, methane‐metabolizing microorganisms may be important for modulating...

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Published in:Environmental microbiology 2021-11, Vol.23 (11), p.6503-6519
Main Authors: Li, Chuang, Hambright, K. David, Bowen, Hannah G., Trammell, Majoi A., Grossart, Hans‐Peter, Burford, Michele A., Hamilton, David P., Jiang, Helong, Latour, Delphine, Meyer, Elisabeth I., Padisák, Judit, Zamor, Richard M., Krumholz, Lee R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aggregates
Archaea
Archaea - genetics
Blooms
Climate change
Emissions
Euryarchaeota - genetics
Eutrophication
Fresh water
Genera
Genes
Global warming
Lakes
Lakes - microbiology
Methane
Methanogenic archaea
Methanogenic bacteria
Methanotrophic bacteria
Microcystis
Microcystis - genetics
Microorganisms
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics
rRNA 16S
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Summary:Summary Global warming and eutrophication contribute to the worldwide increase in cyanobacterial blooms, and the level of cyanobacterial biomass is strongly associated with rises in methane emissions from surface lake waters. Hence, methane‐metabolizing microorganisms may be important for modulating carbon flow in cyanobacterial blooms. Here, we surveyed methanogenic and methanotrophic communities associated with floating Microcystis aggregates in 10 lakes spanning four continents, through sequencing of 16S rRNA and functional marker genes. Methanogenic archaea (mainly Methanoregula and Methanosaeta) were detectable in 5 of the 10 lakes and constituted the majority (~50%–90%) of the archaeal community in these lakes. Three of the 10 lakes contained relatively more abundant methanotrophs than the other seven lakes, with the methanotrophic genera Methyloparacoccus, Crenothrix, and an uncultured species related to Methylobacter dominating and nearly exclusively found in each of those three lakes. These three are among the five lakes in which methanogens were observed. Operational taxonomic unit (OTU) richness and abundance of methanotrophs were strongly positively correlated with those of methanogens, suggesting that their activities may be coupled. These Microcystis‐aggregate‐associated methanotrophs may be responsible for a hitherto overlooked sink for methane in surface freshwaters, and their co‐occurrence with methanogens sheds light on the methane cycle in cyanobacterial aggregates.
ISSN:1462-2912
1462-2920
DOI:10.1111/1462-2920.15691