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Community structure of rare methanogenic archaea: insight from a single functional group.

ABSTRACT: The rare biosphere, the low abundant microbial populations, is suggested to be a conserved way of microbial life. Here we conducted a molecular survey of rare methanogenic archaea in the environment targeting the mcrA gene in order to test if general concepts associated with the structure of the rare bacterial biosphere also apply to single functional groups. Similar to what is known about rare bacterial communities, the contribution of rare methanogens to the alpha diversity is much larger than to Bray-Curtis measures. Moreover, a similar core group of methanogens harbored by the abundant and rare communities suggests similar sources and environmental controls of both groups. Among the communities of different levels of rarity, the conditionally rare methanogenic taxa largely account for the overall community dynamics of the rare biosphere and likely enter the dominant community under favorable environmental conditions. In addition, we observed a positive correlation between the alpha diversity and the production of methane when the rare taxa were taken into account. This supports the concept that increasing microbial biodiversity enhances ecological function. The composition and environmental associations of the rare methanogenic biosphere allow us to conclude that rarity is a conserved way also for single functional groups.

SUBMITTER: Yang S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5812523 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Community structure of rare methanogenic archaea: insight from a single functional group.

Yang Sizhong S Winkel Matthias M Wagner Dirk D Liebner Susanne S

FEMS microbiology ecology 20171101 11

The rare biosphere, the low abundant microbial populations, is suggested to be a conserved way of microbial life. Here we conducted a molecular survey of rare methanogenic archaea in the environment targeting the mcrA gene in order to test if general concepts associated with the structure of the rare bacterial biosphere also apply to single functional groups. Similar to what is known about rare bacterial communities, the contribution of rare methanogens to the alpha diversity is much larger than ...[more]

PMID: 29029047

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Project description:The methanogenic biodegradation of crude oil involves the conversion of hydrocarbons to methanogenic substrates by syntrophic bacteria and subsequent methane production by methanogens. Assessing the metabolic roles played by various microbial species in syntrophic communities remains a challenge, but such information has important implications for bioremediation and microbial enhanced energy recovery technologies. Many factors such as changing environmental conditions or substrate variations can influence the composition and biodegradation capabilities of syntrophic microbial communities in hydrocarbon-impacted environments. In this study, a methanogenic crude oil-degrading enrichment culture was successively transferred onto the single long chain fatty acids palmitate or stearate followed by their parent alkanes, hexadecane or octadecane, respectively, in order to assess the impact of different substrates on microbial community composition and retention of hydrocarbon biodegradation genes. 16S rRNA gene sequencing showed that a reduction in substrate diversity resulted in a corresponding loss of microbial diversity, but that hydrocarbon biodegradation genes (such as assA/masD encoding alkylsuccinate synthase) could be retained within a community even in the absence of hydrocarbon substrates. Despite substrate-related diversity changes, all communities were dominated by hydrogenotrophic and acetotrophic methanogens along with bacteria including Clostridium sp., members of the Deltaproteobacteria, and a number of other phyla. Microbial co-occurrence network analysis revealed a dense network of interactions amongst syntrophic bacteria and methanogens that were maintained despite changes in the substrates for methanogenesis. Our results reveal the effect of substrate diversity loss on microbial community diversity, indicate that many syntrophic interactions are stable over time despite changes in substrate pressure, and show that syntrophic interactions amongst bacteria themselves are as important as interactions between bacteria and methanogens in complex methanogenic communities.

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Dataset Information

Community structure of rare methanogenic archaea: insight from a single functional group.

Publications

Community structure of rare methanogenic archaea: insight from a single functional group.

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