Microbial community composition and methanotroph diversity of a subarctic wetland in Russia

• Published in: Microbiology (New York) Vol. 85; no. 5; pp. 583 - 591
• Main Authors: Danilova, O. V., Belova, S. E., Gagarinova, I. V., Dedysh, S. N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 01.09.2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Acidobacteria; Actinobacteria; Alphaproteobacteria; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Bogs; Cetraria; Cladonia; Community composition; Experimental Articles; Gammaproteobacteria; Lichens; Life Sciences; Medical Microbiology; Methane; Methane monooxygenase; Methanotrophic bacteria; Microbiology; Next-generation sequencing; Oxidation; Peat; Phylogeny; Planctomycetes; PmoA protein; rRNA 16S; Sphagnum; Tundra; Verrucomicrobia; Wetlands; Russia; spp; and; methanotrophic bacteria; Methylospira mobilis; tundra wetlands; microbial diversity; highthroughput sequencing of 16S rRNA genes; “
• ISSN: 0026-2617; 1608-3237
• DOI: 10.1134/S0026261716050039

This study assessed the microbial diversity, activity, and composition of methane-oxidizing communities of a subarctic wetland in Russia with mosaic cover of Sphagnum mosses and lichens of the genera Cladonia and Cetraria . Potential methane-oxidizing activity of peat sampled from lichen-dominated wetland sites was higher than that in the sites dominated by Sphagnum mosses. In peat from lichen-dominated sites, major bacterial groups identified by high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA genes were the Acidobacteria (35.4–41.2% of total 16S rRNA gene reads), Alphaproteobacteria (19.1–24.2%), Gammaproteobacteria (7.9–11.1%), Actinobacteria (5.5–13.2%), Planctomycetes (7.2–9.5%), and Verrucomicrobia (5.1–9.5%). The distinctive feature of this community was high proportion of Subdivision 2 Acidobacteria , which are not characteristic for boreal Sphagnum peat bogs. Methanotrophic community composition was determined by molecular analysis of the pmoA gene encoding particulate methane monooxygenase. Most (~80%) of all pmoA gene fragments revealed in peat from lichen-dominated sites belonged to the phylogenetic lineage represented by a microaerobic spiral-shaped methanotroph, “Candidatus Methylospira mobilis”. Members of the genus Methylocystis , which are typical inhabitants of boreal Sphagnum peat bogs, represented only a minor group of indigenous methanotrophs. The specific feature of a methanotrophic community in peat from lichen-dominated sites was the presence of uncultivated USCα (Upland Soil Cluster alpha) methanotrophs, which are typical for acidic upland soils showing atmospheric methane oxidation. The methanotrophic community composition in lichen-dominated sites of a tundra wetland, therefore, was markedly different from that in boreal Sphagnum peat bogs.