A non-methanogenic archaeon within the order Methanocellales

Shino Suzuki (), Shun’ichi Ishii (), Grayson L. Chadwick, Yugo Tanaka, Atsushi Kouzuma, Kazuya Watanabe, Fumio Inagaki, Mads Albertsen, Per H. Nielsen and Kenneth H. Nealson
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Shino Suzuki: RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research
Shun’ichi Ishii: Japan Agency for Marine and Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC)
Grayson L. Chadwick: Berkeley
Yugo Tanaka: Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences
Atsushi Kouzuma: Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences
Kazuya Watanabe: Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences
Fumio Inagaki: JAMSTEC
Mads Albertsen: Aalborg University
Per H. Nielsen: Aalborg University
Kenneth H. Nealson: University of Southern California

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Abstract Serpentinization, a geochemical process found on modern and ancient Earth, provides an ultra-reducing environment that can support microbial methanogenesis and acetogenesis. Several groups of archaea, such as the order Methanocellales, are characterized by their ability to produce methane. Here, we generate metagenomic sequences from serpentinized springs in The Cedars, California, and construct a circularized metagenome-assembled genome of a Methanocellales archaeon, termed Met12, that lacks essential methanogenesis genes. The genome includes genes for an acetyl-CoA pathway, but lacks genes encoding methanogenesis enzymes such as methyl-coenzyme M reductase, heterodisulfide reductases and hydrogenases. In situ transcriptomic analyses reveal high expression of a multi-heme c-type cytochrome, and heterologous expression of this protein in a model bacterium demonstrates that it is capable of accepting electrons. Our results suggest that Met12, within the order Methanocellales, is not a methanogen but a CO2-reducing, electron-fueled acetogen without electron bifurcation.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48185-5

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