Riddles in the cold: Antarctic endemism and microbial succession impact methane cycling in the Southern Ocean.

ABSTRACT: Antarctica is estimated to contain as much as a quarter of earth's marine methane, however we have not discovered an active Antarctic methane seep limiting our understanding of the methane cycle. In 2011, an expansive (70 m × 1 m) microbial mat formed at 10 m water depth in the Ross Sea, Antarctica which we identify here to be a high latitude hydrogen sulfide and methane seep. Through 16S rRNA gene analysis on samples collected 1 year and 5 years after the methane seep formed, we identify the taxa involved in the Antarctic methane cycle and quantify the response rate of the microbial community to a novel input of methane. One year after the seep formed, ANaerobic MEthane oxidizing archaea (ANME), the dominant sink of methane globally, were absent. Five years later, ANME were found to make

SUBMITTER: Thurber AR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7423672 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature