Archaeal Methane Cycling Communities Associated with Gassy Subsurface Sediments of Marennes-Oleron Bay (France)

Roussel, Erwan Georges Phillipe, Sauvadet, A. L., Allard, J., Chaduteau, C., Ricahrd, P., Bonavita, M. A. C. and Chaumillon, E. 2009. Archaeal Methane Cycling Communities Associated with Gassy Subsurface Sediments of Marennes-Oleron Bay (France). Geomicrobiology Journal 26 (1) , pp. 31-43. 10.1080/01490450802599284

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Abstract

In Marennes-Ol´eron Bay, a macro-tidal bay located on the French Atlantic coast, kilometer-scale acoustic turbidity reveals an accumulation of free gas in the sediment. Large concentrations of organic matter and rapid sedimentation rates provide ideal settings for biogenic methane cycling.We integrate seismic, sedimentologic, biogeochemical and molecular genetic approaches to determine whether microbial methane cycling is involved in this process. Here we show that the acoustic turbidity upper boundary matched with X-ray facies displaying fissures with the highest methane concentrations, demonstrating the existence of methane bubbles in the sediment. 16S rRNAand mcrA gene clone libraries were dominated by sequences affiliated to the three known ANME lineages and to putative methanogens. Sequences related to the marine benthic group B (MBG-B) and miscellaneous crenarchaeotal group (MCG) were also detected. However, the highest methane concentration facies was the only section where active Archaea were detected, using reverse-transcribed rRNA, indicating that these communities were involved either directly or indirectly in the methane cycling process. Moreover, three metabolically active novel uncultivated lineages, related to putative methane cycling Archaea, could be specifically associated to these methane bearing sediments. As methane cycling Archaea are commonly retrieved from deep subseafloor and methane seep sediment, the study of coastal gassy sediments,could therefore help to define the biogeochemical habitats of deep biosphere communities.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Earth and Environmental Sciences
Subjects:	Q Science > QR Microbiology
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Archaea ; 16S rRNA ; mcrA ; Methane ; Sediment.
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
ISSN:	0149-0451
Last Modified:	19 Mar 2016 22:15
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/9331

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