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Appl Environ Microbiol. 1983 June; 45(6): 1848-1853
Copyright © 1983, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Metabolism of Acetate, Methanol, and Methylated Amines in Intertidal Sediments of Lowes Cove, Maine

¹ I. C. Darling Center, University of Maine, Walpole, Maine 04573; W. K. Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan State University, Hickory Corners, Michigan 49060²; and Department of Anaerobic Microbiology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061³

ABSTRACT

The fates and the rates of metabolism of acetate, trimethylamine, methylamine, and methanol were examined to determine the significance of these compounds as in situ methane precursors in surface sediments of an intertidal zone in Maine. Concentrations of these potential methane precursors were generally <3 µM, with the exception of sediments containing fragments of the seaweed Ascophyllum nodosum, in which acetate was 96 µM. [2-¹⁴C]acetate turnover in all samples was rapid (turnover time <2 h), with ¹⁴CO₂ as the primary product. [¹⁴C]trimethylamine and methylamine turnover times were slower (>8 h) and were characterized by formation of both ¹⁴CH₄ and ¹⁴CO₂. Ratios of ¹⁴CH₄/¹⁴CO₂ from [¹⁴C]trimethylamine and methylamine in uninhibited sediments indicated that a significant fraction of these substrates were catabolized via a non-methanogenic process. Data from inhibition experiments involving sodium molybdate and 2-bromoethanesulfonic acid supported this interpretation. [¹⁴C]methanol was oxidized relatively slowly compared with the other substrates and was catabolized mainly to ¹⁴CO₂. Results from experiments with molybdate and 2-bromoethanesulfonic acid suggested that methanol was oxidized primarily through sulfate reduction. In Lowes Cove sediments, trimethylamine accounted for 35.1 to 61.1% of total methane production.

Contribution no. 163 of the Darling Center, 83-01 of the Maine Benthic Research Group, 500 of the Kellogg Biological Station, and 10,730 of the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station.

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