Archaeal Methane Cycling Communities Associated with Gassy Subsurface Sediments of Marennes-Oleron Bay (France)

Type Article
Date 2009
Language English
Author(s) Roussel ErwanORCID1, Sauvadet Anne Laure1, Allard Jonathan3, Chaduteau Carine2, Richard Pierre3, Cambon Bonavita Marie-AnneORCID1, Chaumillon Eric3
Affiliation(s) 1 : Univ Bretagne Occidentale, Inst Univ Europeen Mer, CNRS, Lab Microbiol Environm Extremes, Plouzane, France.
2 : Inst Francais Rech Exploitat Mer, Dept Marine Geosci, F-29280 Plouzane, France.
3 : La Rochelle Univ, CNRS, LIENSS, UMR 6250, La Rochelle, France.
Source Geomicrobiology Journal (0149-0451) (Taylor & Francis), 2009 , Vol. 26 , N. 1 , P. 31-43
DOI 10.1080/01490450802599284
WOS© Times Cited 30
Keyword(s) Sediment, Methane, McrA, 16S rRNA, Archaea
Abstract In Marennes-Oleron Bay, a macro-tidal bay located on the French Atlantic coast, kilometer-scale acoustic turbidity reveals an accumulation of free gas in the sediment. Large concentrations of organic matter and rapid sedimentation rates provide ideal settings for biogenic methane cycling. We integrate seismic, sedimentologic, biogeochemical and molecular genetic approaches to determine whether microbial methane cycling is involved in this process. Here we show that the acoustic turbidity upper boundary matched with X-ray facies displaying fissures with the highest methane concentrations, demonstrating the existence of methane bubbles in the sediment. 16S rRNA and mcrA gene clone libraries were dominated by sequences affiliated to the three known ANME lineages and to putative methanogens. Sequences related to the marine benthic group B (MBG-B) and miscellaneous crenarchaeotal group (MCG) were also detected. However, the highest methane concentration facies was the only section where active Archaea were detected, using reverse-transcribed rRNA, indicating that these communities were involved either directly or indirectly in the methane cycling process. Moreover, three metabolically active novel uncultivated lineages, related to putative methane cycling Archaea, could be specifically associated to these methane bearing sediments. As methane cycling Archaea are commonly retrieved from deep subseafloor and methane seep sediment, the study of coastal gassy sediments, could therefore help to define the biogeochemical habitats of deep biosphere communities.
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Roussel Erwan, Sauvadet Anne Laure, Allard Jonathan, Chaduteau Carine, Richard Pierre, Cambon Bonavita Marie-Anne, Chaumillon Eric (2009). Archaeal Methane Cycling Communities Associated with Gassy Subsurface Sediments of Marennes-Oleron Bay (France). Geomicrobiology Journal, 26(1), 31-43. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1080/01490450802599284 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/6165/