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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 2005, p. 8099-8106, Vol. 71, No. 12
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.12.8099-8106.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Evidence of Intense Archaeal and Bacterial Methanotrophic Activity in the Black Sea Water Column

Edith Durisch-Kaiser,* Lucia Klauser, Bernhard Wehrli, and Carsten Schubert

Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science and Technology (EAWAG), Seestr. 79, CH-6047 Kastanienbaum, Switzerland

Received 31 May 2005/ Accepted 13 September 2005

In the northwestern Black Sea, methane oxidation rates reveal that above shallow and deep gas seeps methane is removed from the water column as efficiently as it is at sites located off seeps. Hence, seeps should not have a significant impact on the estimated annual flux of ~4.1 x 109 mol methane to the atmosphere [W. S. Reeburgh, B. B. Ward, S. C. Wahlen, K. A. Sandbeck, K. A. Kilatrick, and L. J. Kerkhof, Deep-Sea Res. 38(Suppl. 2):S1189-S1210, 1991]. Both the stable carbon isotopic composition of dissolved methane and the microbial community structure analyzed by fluorescent in situ hybridization provide strong evidence that microbially mediated methane oxidation occurs. At the shelf, strong isotope fractionation was observed above high-intensity seeps. This effect was attributed to bacterial type I and II methanotrophs, which on average accounted for 2.5% of the DAPI (4',6'-diamidino-2-phenylindole)-stained cells in the whole oxic water column. At deep sites, in the oxic-anoxic transition zone, strong isotopic fractionation of methane overlapped with an increased abundance of Archaea and Bacteria, indicating that these organisms are involved in the oxidation of methane. In underlying anoxic water, we successfully identified the archaeal methanotrophs ANME-1 and ANME-2, eachof which accounted for 3 to 4% of the total cell counts. ANME-1 and ANME-2 appear as single cells in anoxicwater, compared to the sediment, where they may form cell aggregates with sulfate-reducing bacteria (A. Boetius, K. Ravenschlag, C. J. Schubert, D. Rickert, F. Widdel, A. Giesecke, R. Amann, B. B. Jørgensen, U. Witte, and O. Pfannkuche, Nature 407:623-626, 2000; V. J. Orphan, C. H. House, K.-U. Hinrichs, K. D. McKeegan, and E. F. DeLong, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99:7663-7668, 2002).

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Swiss Federal Institute forEnvironmental Science and Technology (EAWAG), Seestr. 79, CH-6047 Kastanienbaum, Switzerland. Phone: 41-41-349 2125. Fax: 41-41-349 2168. E-mail: edith.kaiser{at}eawag.ch.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 2005, p. 8099-8106, Vol. 71, No. 12
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.12.8099-8106.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Tavormina, P. L., Ussler, W. III, Orphan, V. J. (2008). Planktonic and Sediment-Associated Aerobic Methanotrophs in Two Seep Systems along the North American Margin. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 3985-3995 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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