Publications

4634

ABSTRACT Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) typically predominate over ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in marine sediments. We herein present the draft genome sequence of an ammonia-oxidizing archaeon, “ Candidatus Nitrosopumilus sediminis” AR2, which was enriched in culture from a marine sediment obtained off Svalbard, within the Arctic Circle. The typical genes involved in archaeal ammonia oxidation and carbon fixation necessary for chemolithoautotrophic growth were observed. Interestingly, the AR2 genome sequence was revealed to possess, uniquely among cultivated AOA from marine environments, a capability for urea utilization.

ABSTRACT The recently described bacterium “ Candidatus Methylomirabilis oxyfera” couples the oxidation of the important greenhouse gas methane to the reduction of nitrite. The ecological significance of “ Ca . Methylomirabilis oxyfera” is still underexplored, as our ability to identify the presence of this bacterium is thus far limited to DNA-based techniques. Here, we investigated the lipid composition of “ Ca . Methylomirabilis oxyfera” to identify new, gene-independent biomarkers for the environmental detection of this bacterium. Multiple “ Ca . Methylomirabilis oxyfera” enrichment cultures were investigated. In all cultures, the lipid profile was dominated up to 46% by the fatty acid (FA) 10-methylhexadecanoic acid (10MeC 16:0 ). Furthermore, a unique FA was identified that has not been reported elsewhere: the monounsaturated 10-methylhexadecenoic acid with a double bond at the Δ7 position (10MeC 16:1Δ7 ), which comprised up to 10% of the total FA profile. We propose that the typical branched fatty acids 10MeC 16:0 and 10MeC 16:1Δ7 are key and characteristic components of the lipid profile of “ Ca . Methylomirabilis oxyfera.” The successful detection of these fatty acids in a peatland from which one of the enrichment cultures originated supports the potential of these unique lipids as biomarkers for the process of nitrite-dependent methane oxidation in the environment.