Vitamin and Amino Acid Auxotrophy in Anaerobic Consortia Operating under Methanogenic Conditions

• Syntrophy among Archaea and Bacteria facilitates the anaerobic degra- dation of organic compounds to CH4 and CO2 . Particularly during aliphatic and aro- matic hydrocarbon mineralization, as in the case of crude oil reservoirs and petroleum-contaminated sediments, metabolic interactions between obligate mutu- alistic microbial partners are of central importance. Using micromanipulation com- bined with shotgun metagenomic approaches, we describe the genomes of complex consortia within short-chain alkane-degrading cultures operating under methano- genic conditions. Metabolic reconstruction revealed that only a small fraction of genes in the metagenome-assembled genomes encode the capacity for fermenta- tion of alkanes facilitated by energy conservation linked to H2 metabolism. Instead, the presence of inferred lifestyles based on scavenging anabolic products and inter- mediate fermentation products derived from detrital biomass was a common fea- ture. Additionally, inferred auxotrophy for vitamins and amino acids suggests that the hydrocarbon-degrading microbial assemblages are structured and maintained by multiple interactions beyond the canonical H2 -producing and syntrophic alkane degrader-methanogen partnership. Compared to previous work, our report points to a higher order of complexity in microbial consortia engaged in anaerobic hydrocar- bon transformation. IMPORTANCE

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Mikrobiologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Microbiology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Black Queen hypothesis

metagenomics

petroleum

syntrophy M

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)