Methanogenic Community (methanogenic + community)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Molecular Characterization of Anaerobic Microbial Communities from Benzene-Degrading Sediments under Methanogenic Conditions

BIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRESS, Issue 6 2005
Wook Chang
Anaerobic benzene degradation was confirmed in microbial communities enriched from Baltimore Harbor (Baltimore, MD) sediments under methanogenic conditions. Molecular characterization based on 16S rDNA gene sequences revealed that the strains in the communities were diversely affiliated with such phylogenetic branches as the Bacteroidetes, Euryarchaeota, Firmicutes, and Thermotogaephyla. Of interest was that the majority of the microbial populations detected in these cultures were closely related to the members of dechlorinating microbial communities. Further, some of those species were previously found in naphthalene- or phenanthrene-degrading methanogenic communities. Finally, this result could be used to design targeted isolation strategies for anaerobic benzene-degrading strains under methanogenic conditions. [source]


Trophic interactions in the methanogenic microbial community of low-temperature terrestrial ecosystems

FEMS MICROBIOLOGY ECOLOGY, Issue 1 2005
O.R. Kotsyurbenko
Abstract The formation of methane in various ecosystems is due to the functioning of an anaerobic community, which combines trophically different groups of microorganisms. The methanogenic microbial community is a complex biological system, which responds to low temperatures by changes in its trophic structure resulting in redistributing matter flows. The enhanced activity of homoacetogenic bacteria at low temperature plays a significant role in this redistribution. Due to their relatively high growth rates and metabolic versatility, homoacetogens can successfully compete with fermenting bacteria and hydrogenotrophic methanogenic archaea for common substrates. The concentration of hydrogen is an important regulatory factor in the psychroactive methanogenic community. At low temperature methanogenic archaea possessing a higher affinity for hydrogen than homoacetogens provide for interspecies H2 transport in syntrophic reactions of fatty acid decomposition. The formation of a balanced community at low temperature is a longtime process. Cold terrestrial ecosystems are dominated by psychroactive (psychrotolerant) microorganisms, which can grow over a wide range of ambient temperatures. [source]


The molecular diversity of the methanogenic community in a hypereutrophic freshwater lake determined by PCR-RFLP

JOURNAL OF APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 5 2004
C. Whitby
Abstract Aims:, To combine database-held sequence information with a programme of experimental molecular ecology to define the methanogenic community of a hypereutrophic lake by a PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. Methods and Results:, Methanogen diversity in a hypereutrophic freshwater lake was analysed using 16S rDNA PCR-RFLP. Database-held 16S rRNA gene sequences for 76 diverse methanogens were analysed for specific restriction sites that permitted unequivocal differentiation of methanogens. Restriction digestion and agarose gel electrophoresis of the 16S rDNA from selected methanogen pure cultures generated observed restriction profiles that corroborated the expected patterns. This method was then tested by analysing methanogen diversity in samples obtained over 1 year from sediment and water samples taken from the same sampling site. Conclusions:, Restriction analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequences from 157 methanogen clones generated from lakewater and sediment samples showed that over 50% were similar to Methanoculleus spp. Furthermore, a total of 16 RFLP types (1,16) were identified, eight of which contained no cultured representative archaeal 16S rRNA gene sequences. Significance and Impact of the Study:, This RFLP strategy provides a robust and reliable means to rapidly identify methanogens in the environment. [source]