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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2000, p. 1126-1132, Vol. 66, No. 3
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Biomarker Evidence for Widespread Anaerobic Methane Oxidation in Mediterranean Sediments by a Consortium of Methanogenic Archaea and Bacteriadagger

Richard D. Pancost,1,* Jaap S. Sinninghe Damsté,1 Saskia de Lint,2 Marc J. E. C. van der Maarel,2 Jan C. Gottschal,2 and The Medinaut Shipboard Scientific PartyDagger

Department of Marine Biogeochemistry and Toxicology, Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, 1790AB Den Burg (Texel),1 and Department of Microbiology, Centre for Ecological Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen, 9750 AA Haren,2 The Netherlands

Received 14 October 1999/Accepted 5 January 2000

Although abundant geochemical data indicate that anaerobic methane oxidation occurs in marine sediments, the linkage to specific microorganisms remains unclear. In order to examine processes of methane consumption and oxidation, sediment samples from mud volcanoes at two distinct sites on the Mediterranean Ridge were collected via the submersible Nautile. Geochemical data strongly indicate that methane is oxidized under anaerobic conditions, and compound-specific carbon isotope analyses indicate that this reaction is facilitated by a consortium of archaea and bacteria. Specifically, these methane-rich sediments contain high abundances of methanogen-specific biomarkers that are significantly depleted in 13C (delta 13C values are as low as -95per thousand ). Biomarkers inferred to derive from sulfate-reducing bacteria and other heterotrophic bacteria are similarly depleted. Consistent with previous work, such depletion can be explained by consumption of 13C-depleted methane by methanogens operating in reverse and as part a consortium of organisms in which sulfate serves as the terminal electron acceptor. Moreover, our results indicate that this process is widespread in Mediterranean mud volcanoes and in some localized settings is the predominant microbiological process.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Marine Biogeochemistry and Toxicology, Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, P.O. Box 59, 1790AB Den Burg (Texel), The Netherlands. Phone: (31) 222 369550. Fax: (31) 222 319674. E-mail: damste{at}nioz.nl.

dagger This is NIOZ publication number 3439.

Dagger G. Aloisi de Larderel, J. L. Charlou, G. de Lange, J. P. Donval, A. Fiala-Medioni, J.-P. Foucher, R. Haese, P. Henry, J. Mascle, G. Nobbe, H. Pelle, C. Pierre, M. Sibuet, and J. M. Woodside.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2000, p. 1126-1132, Vol. 66, No. 3
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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