Diverse syntrophic partnerships from deep-sea methane vents revealed by direct cell capture and metagenomics.

ABSTRACT: Microorganisms play a fundamental role in the cycling of nutrients and energy on our planet. A common strategy for many microorganisms mediating biogeochemical cycles in anoxic environments is syntrophy, frequently necessitating close spatial proximity between microbial partners. We are only now beginning to fully appreciate the diversity and pervasiveness of microbial partnerships in nature, the majority of which cannot be replicated in the laboratory. One notable example of such cooperation is the interspecies association between anaerobic methane oxidizing archaea (ANME) and sulfate-reducing bacteria. These consortia are globally distributed in the environment and provide a significant sink for methane by substantially reducing the export of this potent greenhouse gas into the atmospher

SUBMITTER: Pernthaler A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2383945 | biostudies-literature | 2008 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature