Macroscopic biofilms in fracture-dominated sediment that anaerobically oxidize methane.

ABSTRACT: Methane release from seafloor sediments is moderated, in part, by the anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) performed by consortia of archaea and bacteria. These consortia occur as isolated cells and aggregates within the sulfate-methane transition (SMT) of diffusion and seep-dominant environments. Here we report on a new SMT setting where the AOM consortium occurs as macroscopic pink to orange biofilms within subseafloor fractures. Biofilm samples recovered from the Indian and northeast Pacific Oceans had a cellular abundance of 10(7) to 10(8) cells cm(-3). This cell density is 2 to 3 orders of magnitude greater than that in the surrounding sediments. Sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA genes indicated that the bacterial component is dominated by Deltaproteobacteria, candidate division WS3, a

SUBMITTER: Briggs BR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3187087 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature