Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-8-2019
Publication Title
Nature Communications
Publisher
Nature Research
Volume
10
Issue
1
First page number:
1
Last page number:
11
Abstract
Several recent studies have shown the presence of genes for the key enzyme associated with archaeal methane/alkane metabolism, methyl-coenzyme M reductase (Mcr), in metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) divergent to existing archaeal lineages. Here, we study the mcr-containing archaeal MAGs from several hot springs, which reveal further expansion in the diversity of archaeal organisms performing methane/alkane metabolism. Significantly, an MAG basal to organisms from the phylum Thaumarchaeota that contains mcr genes, but not those for ammonia oxidation or aerobic metabolism, is identified. Together, our phylogenetic analyses and ancestral state reconstructions suggest a mostly vertical evolution of mcrABG genes among methanogens and methanotrophs, along with frequent horizontal gene transfer of mcr genes between alkanotrophs. Analysis of all mcr-containing archaeal MAGs/genomes suggests a hydrothermal origin for these microorganisms based on optimal growth temperature predictions. These results also suggest methane/alkane oxidation or methanogenesis at high temperature likely existed in a common archaeal ancestor.
Disciplines
Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology | Microbiology
File Format
File Size
1.092 KB
Language
English
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Repository Citation
Hua, Z.,
Wang, Y.,
Evans, P. N.,
Qu, Y.,
Goh, K. M.,
Rao, Y.,
Qi, S.,
Li, Y.,
Huang, M.,
Jiao, J.,
Chen, Y.,
Shu, W.,
Hozzein, W.,
Hedlund, B. P.,
Tyson, G. W.,
Zhang, T.,
Li, W.
(2019).
Insights into the Ecological Roles and Evolution of Methyl-Coenzyme M Reductase-Containing Hot Spring Archaea.
Nature Communications, 10(1),
1-11.
Nature Research.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12574-y