Anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) in marine sediments is an important global methane sink, but the physiological characteristics of AOM-associated microorganisms remain poorly understood. Here we report the cultivation of an AOM microbial community from deep-sea methane-seep sediment using a continuous-flow bioreactor with polyurethane sponges, called the down-flow hanging sponge (DHS) bioreactor. We anaerobically incubated deep-sea methane-seep sediment collected from the Nankai Trough, Japan, for 2,013 days in the bioreactor at 10°C. Following incubation, an active AOM activity was confirmed by a tracer experiment using 13C-labeled methane. Phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that phylogenetically diverse Archaea and Bacteria grew in the bioreactor. After 2,013 days of incubation, the predominant archaeal components were anaerobic methanotroph (ANME)-2a, Deep-Sea Archaeal Group, and Marine Benthic Group-D, and Gammaproteobacteria was the dominant bacterial lineage. Fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis showed that ANME-1 and -2a, and most ANME-2c cells occurred without close physical interaction with potential bacterial partners. Our data demonstrate that the DHS bioreactor system is a useful system for cultivating fastidious methane-seep-associated sedimentary microorganisms.
Department of Subsurface Geobiological Analysis and Research (D-SUGAR), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan;Department of Environmental Systems Engineering, Nagaoka University of Technology, Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan;Department of Environmental Systems Engineering, Nagaoka University of Technology, Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan;Department of Subsurface Geobiological Analysis and Research (D-SUGAR), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan;Institute for Geo-resources and Environment, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan;Department of Subsurface Geobiological Analysis and Research (D-SUGAR), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan;Department of Subsurface Geobiological Analysis and Research (D-SUGAR), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan;Department of Environmental Systems Engineering, Nagaoka University of Technology, Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan;Department of Environmental Systems Engineering, Nagaoka University of Technology, Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan;Department of Environmental Systems Engineering, Nagaoka University of Technology, Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan;Department of Construction Systems Engineering, Anan National College of Technology, Anan, Tokushima, Japan;Department of Environmental Systems Engineering, Nagaoka University of Technology, Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan;Department of Social and Environmental Engineering, Hiroshima University, Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan;Research and Development Center for Marine Biosciences, JAMSTEC, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan;Department of Subsurface Geobiological Analysis and Research (D-SUGAR), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan;Department of Subsurface Geobiological Analysis and Research (D-SUGAR), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan
Recommended Citation:
Masataka Aoki,Masayuki Ehara,Yumi Saito,et al. A Long-Term Cultivation of an Anaerobic Methane-Oxidizing Microbial Community from Deep-Sea Methane-Seep Sediment Using a Continuous-Flow Bioreactor[J]. PLOS ONE,2014-01-01,9(8)