Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Enrichment and characterization of a methanogenic bacterium from the oxic upper layer of the ocean

  • Published:
Current Microbiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Enrichment cultures containing marine plankton from oxygenated coastal waters (50–108% saturated) with supersaturated levels of methane (>700% saturated) yielded a strictly anaerobic methanogenic bacterium. Nonmotile, non-spore-forming, regular to slightly irregular cocci (0.5–0.8µm) were evident by phase contrast, epifluorescence, and scanning electron microscopies. The unpurified isolate required NaCl for growth, with maximal methanogenesis at 240 mM NaCl at 22°C. The optimal temperature range for growth was 22–31°C, and the optimal range for methanogenesis was 26–35°C. Mono-, di-, and trimethylated amines or methanol were substrates for methanogenesis; sodium acetate and H2:CO2 were not. The DNA base composition was 42 ±1% guanine plus cytosine. Serology suggested the isolate may be a new strain ofMethanococcoides methylutens. Morphology, growth physiology, DNA base content, and serology are all consistent with the type description ofM. methylutens, a methylotrophic methanogen isolated from submarine sediments.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Literature Cited

  1. Alldredge AL, Cohen Y (1987) Can microscale chemical patches persist in the sea? Microelectrode study of marine snow, fecal pellets. Science 235:689–691

    Google Scholar 

  2. Balch WE, Wolfe RS (1976) New approach to the cultivation of methanogenic bacteria: 2-mercaptoethanesulfonic acid (HS-CoM)-dependent growth ofMethanobacterium runinantium in a pressurized atmosphere. Appl Environ Microbiol 32:781–791

    Google Scholar 

  3. Balch WE, Fox GE, Magrum LJ, Woese CR, Wolfe RS (1979) Methanogens: reevaluation of a unique biological group. Microbiol Rev 43:260–296

    Google Scholar 

  4. Beers JR (1967) The species distribution of some naturally occurring quaternary ammonium compounds. Comp Biochem Physiol 21:11–21

    Google Scholar 

  5. Blake DR, Mayer EW, Tyler SC, Makiye Y, Monaque DC, Rowland FS (1982) Global increase in atmospheric methane concentrations between 1978 and 1980. Geophys Res Lett 9:477–480

    Google Scholar 

  6. Blunden G, Gordon SM, McLean WFH, Guiry MD (1982) The distribution and possible taxonomic significance of quaternary ammonium and other Dragendorff-positive compounds in some genera of marine algae. Bot Mar 25:563–567

    Google Scholar 

  7. Brooks JM, Sackett WM (1973) Sources, sinks and concentrations of light hydrocarbons in the Gulf of Mexico. J Geophys Res 78:1069–1071

    Google Scholar 

  8. Brooks JM, Reid DF, Bernard BB (1981) Methane in the upper water column of the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico. J Geophys Res 86:11029–11040

    Google Scholar 

  9. Burke RA, Reid DF, Brooks JM, Lavoie DM (1983) Upper water column methane geochemistry in the eastern tropical North Pacific. Limnol Oceanogr 28:19–32

    Google Scholar 

  10. Scripps Institution of Oceanography (1987) Physical, chemical, and biological data report, CalCOFI cruise 8609, CalCOFI 8611. University of California, San Diego: SIO Ref 87-7

    Google Scholar 

  11. Scripps Institution of Oceanography (1987) Physical, chemical, and biological data report, CalCOFI cruise 8703, CalCOFI 8705. University of California, San Diego: SIO Ref 87-19

    Google Scholar 

  12. Scripps Institution of Oceanography (1988) Physical, chemical, and biological data report, CalCOFI cruise 8709, CalCOFI 8711. University of California, San Diego: SIO Ref 88-8

    Google Scholar 

  13. Scripps Institution of Oceanography (1989) Physical, chemical, and biological data report, CalCOFI cruise 8801, CalCOFI 8805. University of California, San Diego: SIO Ref 88-23

    Google Scholar 

  14. Scripps Institution of Oceanography (1989) Physical, chemical, and biological data report, CalCOFI cruise 8901, CalCOFI 8904. University of California, San Diego: SIO Ref 89-26

    Google Scholar 

  15. Carpenter JH (1965) The Chesapeake Bay Institute technique for the Winkler dissolved oxygen method. Limnol Oceanogr 10:141–143

    Google Scholar 

  16. Cheeseman P, Tosm-Wood A, Wolfe RS (1972) Isolation and properties of a fluorescent compound, factor 420, fromMethanobacterium strain M.O.H. J Bacteriol 112:527–531

    Google Scholar 

  17. Conrad R, Seiler W (1988) Methane and hydrogen in seawater (Atlantic Ocean). Deep-Sea Res 35:1903–1917

    Google Scholar 

  18. Conway de Macario E, Macario AJL, Jovell RJ (1986) Slide immunoenzymatic assay (SIA) in hybridoma technology. Methods Enzymol 121:509–525

    Google Scholar 

  19. Doodema HJ, Vogels GD (1978) Improved identification of methanogenic bacteria by fluorescence microscopy. Appl Environ Microbiol 36:752–754

    Google Scholar 

  20. Dubach AC, Bachofen R (1985) Methanogens: a short taxonomic review. Experientia 41:441–445

    Google Scholar 

  21. Fraser PJ, Khalil MAK, Rasmussen RA, Crawford AJ (1981) Trends of atmospheric methane in the southern hemisphere. Geophys Res Lett 8:1063–1066

    Google Scholar 

  22. Goldman JC (1984) Conceptual role for microaggregates in pelagic waters. Bull Mar Science, 35:462–476

    Google Scholar 

  23. Heijthuijsen JHFG, Hansen TA (1989) Betaine fermentation and oxidation by marineDesulfuromonas strains. Appl Environ Microbiol 55:965–969

    Google Scholar 

  24. Hippe H, Caspai D, Fiebig K, Gottschalk G (1979) Utilization of trimethylamine and other N-methyl compounds for growth and methane formation byMethanosarcina barkeri. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 76:494–498

    Google Scholar 

  25. Joergensen BB, Revsbech NP (1985) Diffusive boundary layers and oxygen uptake of sediment and detritus. Limnol Oceanogr 30:111–122

    Google Scholar 

  26. Johnson JL (1981) Genetic characterization. In: Gerhardt P (ed) Manual of methods for general bacteriology. Washington, DC: American Society for Microbiology, pp 450–472

    Google Scholar 

  27. Khalil M, Rasmussen RA (1990) Atmospheric methane: recent global trends. Environ Sci & Technol 24:549–553

    Google Scholar 

  28. Kiener A, Leisinger T (1983) Oxygen sensitivity of methanogenic bacteria. Sys Appl Microbiol 4:305–312

    Google Scholar 

  29. King GM (1984) Utilization of hydrogen, acetate and “non-competitive” substrates by methanogenic bacteria in marine sediments. Geomicrobiol J, 3:275–306

    Google Scholar 

  30. King GM (1988) Methanogenesis from methylated amines in a hypersaline algal mat. Appl Environ Microbiol 54:130–136

    Google Scholar 

  31. Kubitschek HE (1958) Electronic counting and sizing of bacteria. Nature 182:234–235

    Google Scholar 

  32. Lamontagne RA, Swinnerton JW, Linnenbom VJ (1974) C1–C4 hydrocarbons in the North and South Pacific. Tellus, 26:71–77

    Google Scholar 

  33. Lashof DA, Ahuja DR (1990) Relative contribution of green-house gas emission to global warming. Nature 344:529–531

    Google Scholar 

  34. Macario AJL, Conway de Macario E (1983) Antigenic fingerprinting of methanogenic bacteria with polyclonal antibody probes. Syst Appl Microbiol 4:451–458

    Google Scholar 

  35. Macario AJ, Conway de Macario E (1985) Monoclonal antibodies of predefined molecular specificity for identification and classification of methanogens and for probing their ecologic niches. In: Macario AJ, Conway de Macario E (eds) Monoclonal antibodies against bacteria. Orlando: Academic Press, pp 213–247

    Google Scholar 

  36. Macario AJL, Conay de Macario E (1986) Methanogens in digestors: identification and quantification in microsamples by direct testing with antibody probes. In: Institute of Gas Technology (ed), Energy from biomass and wastes X. Essex: Elsevier Press, pp 1009–1020

    Google Scholar 

  37. Macario AJL, Conway de Macario E (1988) Quantitative immunologic analysis of the methanogenic fluora of digestors reveals a considerable diversity. Appl Environ Microbiol 54:79–86

    Google Scholar 

  38. Mah RA, Smith MR (1981) The methanogenic bacteria. In: Starr MP, Stolp H, Truper HG, Balows A, Schlegel HG (eds) The prokaryotes. New York: Springer-Verlag, pp 848–977

    Google Scholar 

  39. Möller B, Oßmer R, Howard BH, Gottschalk G, and Hippe H (1984)Sporomusa, a new genus of gram-negative anaerobic bacteria includingSporomusa sphaeroides spec. nov. andSporomusa ovata, spec. nov. Arch Microbiol 139:388–396

    Google Scholar 

  40. Naumann E, Hippe H, Gottchalk G (1983) Betaine; New oxidant in the Stickland reaction and methanogenesis from betaine andl-alanine by aClostridium sporogenes-Methanosarcina barkeri coculture. Appl Environ Microbiol 45:474–483

    Google Scholar 

  41. Oremland RS (1979) Methanogenic activity in plankton samples and fish intestines: a mechanism for in situ methanogenesis in oceanic surface waters. Limnol. Oceanogr 24:1136–1141

    Google Scholar 

  42. Oremland RS (1988) Biogeochemistry of methanogenic bacteria. In: Zehnder AJB (ed) Biology of anaerobic microorganisms. New York: Wiley and Sons, pp 641–705

    Google Scholar 

  43. Paerl HW, Carlton RG (1988) Control of nitrogen fixation by oxygen depletion in surface-associated microzones. Nature 332:260–262

    Google Scholar 

  44. Paerl HW, Prufert LE (1987) Oxygen-poor microzones as potential sites of microbial N2 fixation in nitrogen-depleted aerobic marine waters. Appl Environ Microbiol 53:1078–1087

    Google Scholar 

  45. Pfennig N, Wagener S (1986) An improved method of preparing wet mounts for photomicrographs of microorganisms. J Microbiol Methods, 4:303–306

    Google Scholar 

  46. Rasmussen RA, Khalil, MAK (1981) Increase in the concentration of atmospheric methane. Atmos Environ 15:883–886

    Google Scholar 

  47. Rudd JWM, and Taylor CD (1980) Methane cycling in aquatic environments. Adv Aquatic Microbiol 2:77–150

    Google Scholar 

  48. Scranton MI, Brewer PG (1977) Occurrence of methane in the near-surface waters of the western subtropical North-Atlantic. Deep-Sea Res 24:127–138

    Google Scholar 

  49. Sieburth JM (1983) Microbiological and organic-chemical processes in the surface and mixed layers. In: Liss PS, Slinn WGN (eds) Air-sea exchange of gases and particles. D. Reidel Publishing, pp 121–172

  50. Sieburth JM (1987) Contrary habitats for redox-specific processes: methanogenesis in oxic waters and oxidation in anoxic waters. In: Sleigh MA (ed) Microbes in the sea. Chichester, England: Halsted Press, pp 11–38

    Google Scholar 

  51. Sowers KR, Ferry JG (1983) Isolation and characterization of a methylotrophic marine methanogen,Methanococcoides methylutens gen. nov., sp. nov. Appl Environ Microbiol, 45:684–690

    Google Scholar 

  52. Swinnerton JW, Linnenbom VJ, Cheek CH (1969) Distribution of methane and carbon monoxide between the atmosphere and natural waters. Environ Sci Tech 3:836–838

    Google Scholar 

  53. Traganza ED, Swinnerton JW, Cheek CH (1979) Methane supersaturation and ATP-zooplankton blooms in near-surface waters of the Western Mediterranean and the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean. Deep-Sea Res 26A:1237–1245

    Google Scholar 

  54. UNESCO (1981) Background papers and supporting data on the Practical Salinity Scale, 1978. UNESCO Technical Papers in Marine Science, Paris, France

    Google Scholar 

  55. Weiss RF (1970) The solubility of nitrogen, oxygen and argon in water and seawater. Deep-Sea Res 17:721–735

    Google Scholar 

  56. Whitman WB (1985) Methanogenic bacteria. In: Woese CR, Wolfe RS (ed) The bacteria. Orlando: Academic, pp 3–84

    Google Scholar 

  57. Wiesenburg DA, Guinasso NLJ (1979) Equilibrium solubilities of methane, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen in water and sea water. J Chem Eng Data, 24:356–360

    Google Scholar 

  58. Wolfe RS (1971) Microbial formation of methane. In: Rose AH, Wilkinson JF (ed) Advances in microbial physiology. New York: Academic Press, pp 107–146

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego, 92093-0202, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Frank J. Cynar & A. Aristides Yayanos

Authors
  1. Frank J. Cynar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A. Aristides Yayanos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cynar, F.J., Yayanos, A.A. Enrichment and characterization of a methanogenic bacterium from the oxic upper layer of the ocean. Current Microbiology 23, 89–96 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02092256

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02092256

Keywords

Search

Navigation