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Title: Global co‐occurrence of methanogenic archaea and methanotrophic bacteria in Microcystis aggregates
Summary

Global warming and eutrophication contribute to the worldwide increase in cyanobacterial blooms, and the level of cyanobacterial biomass is strongly associated with rises in methane emissions from surface lake waters. Hence, methane‐metabolizing microorganisms may be important for modulating carbon flow in cyanobacterial blooms. Here, we surveyed methanogenic and methanotrophic communities associated with floatingMicrocystisaggregates in 10 lakes spanning four continents, through sequencing of 16S rRNA and functional marker genes. Methanogenic archaea (mainlyMethanoregulaandMethanosaeta) were detectable in 5 of the 10 lakes and constituted the majority (~50%–90%) of the archaeal community in these lakes. Three of the 10 lakes contained relatively more abundant methanotrophs than the other seven lakes, with the methanotrophic generaMethyloparacoccus,Crenothrix, and an uncultured species related toMethylobacterdominating and nearly exclusively found in each of those three lakes. These three are among the five lakes in which methanogens were observed. Operational taxonomic unit (OTU) richness and abundance of methanotrophs were strongly positively correlated with those of methanogens, suggesting that their activities may be coupled. TheseMicrocystis‐aggregate‐associated methanotrophs may be responsible for a hitherto overlooked sink for methane in surface freshwaters, and their co‐occurrence with methanogens sheds light on the methane cycle in cyanobacterial aggregates.

 
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Award ID(s):
1736255
NSF-PAR ID:
10366591
Author(s) / Creator(s):
 ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  
Publisher / Repository:
Wiley-Blackwell
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Environmental Microbiology
Volume:
23
Issue:
11
ISSN:
1462-2912
Page Range / eLocation ID:
p. 6503-6519
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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