PNNL

Abstract

Methane production and consumption in anaerobic marine sediments 1 is catalyzed by a series of reversible tetramethanopterin (H4MPT)-linked C1 transfer reactions. Although many of these reactions are conserved between one-carbon compound utilizing microorganisms, two remain diagnostic for archaeal methane metabolism. These include reactions catalyzed by N5-methyltetrahydromethanopterin: coenzyme M methyltransferase and methyl coenzyme M reductase. The latter enzyme is central to C-H bond formation and cleavage underlying methanogenic and reverse methanogenic phenotypes. Here we describe a set of novel tools for the detection and functional analysis of H4MPT-linked C1 transfer reactions mediated by uncultivated anaerobic methane oxidizing archaea (ANME). These tools include polymerase chain reaction primers targeting ANME methyl coenzyme M reductase subunit A subgroups and protein extraction methods from marine sediments compatible with high-resolution mass spectrometry for profiling population structure and functional dynamics. [910, 1,043]