{"253321":{"#nid":"253321","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Methane-Munching Microorganisms Meddle with Metals","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOn the continental margins, where the seafloor drops hundreds of meters below the water\u2019s surface, low temperatures and high pressure lock methane inside ice crystals. Called methane hydrates, these crystals are a potential energy source, but they are also a potential source of global warming if massive amounts of methane were released during an earthquake or by rising ocean temperatures.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA pair of cooperating microbes on the ocean floor \u201ceats\u201d this methane in a unique way, and a new study provides insights into their surprising nutritional requirements. Learning how these methane-munching organisms make a living in these extreme environments could provide clues about how the deep-sea environment might change in a warming world.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EScientists already understood some details about the basic biochemistry of how these two organisms consume methane, but the details of the process have remained mysterious. The new study revealed that a rare trace metal \u2013 tungsten, also used as filaments in light bulbs \u2014 could be important in the breakdown of methane. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis is the first evidence for a microbial tungsten enzyme in low temperature ecosystems,\u201d said Jennifer Glass, an assistant professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe study was recently published online in the journal \u003Cem\u003EEnvironmental Microbiology\u003C\/em\u003E. The research was sponsored by the Department of Energy, NASA Astrobiology Institute and the National Science Foundation. Glass conducted the research while working as a NASA Astrobiology post-doctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology, in the laboratory of professor Victoria Orphan. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe methane-eating organisms, which live in symbiosis, consume methane and excrete carbon dioxide. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cEssentially, they are eating it,\u201d Glass said. \u201cThey are using some of the methane as a carbon source and most of it as an energy source.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPhylogenetically speaking, one microbial partner belongs to the Bacteria, and the other is in the Archaea, representing two distinct domains of life. The archaea is named ANME, or anaerobic methanotrophic archaea, and the other is a sulfate-utilizing deltaproteobacteria. Together, the organisms form \u201cbeautiful bundles,\u201d Glass said. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor a close-up view of the action on the sea floor, the research team used the underwater submersible robot Jason. The robot is an unmanned, remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and can stay underwater for days at a time. The research expedition in which Glass participated was Jason\u2019s longest continuous underwater trip to date, at four consecutive days underwater.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe carbon dioxide excreted by the microbes reacts with minerals in the water to form calcium carbonate. As the researchers saw through Jason\u2019s cameras, calcium carbonate has formed an exotic landscape on the ocean floor over hundreds of years.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere are giant mountains on the seafloor of calcium carbonate,\u201d Glass said. \u201cThey are gorgeous. It looks like a mountain landscape down there.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile on the seafloor, Jason\u2019s robotic arm collected samples of sediment. Back in the lab, researchers sequenced the genes and proteins in these samples. The collection of genes constitutes the meta-genome of the sediment, or the genes present in a particular environment, and likewise the proteins constitute a metaproteome. The research team discovered evidence that an enzyme used by microbes to \u201ceat\u201d methane may need tungsten to operate.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe enzyme (formylmethanofuran dehydrogenase) is the last in the pathway of converting methane to carbon dioxide, an essential step for methane oxidation. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMicroorganisms in low temperature environments typically use molybdenum, which has similar chemical properties to tungsten but is usually much more available (tungsten is directly below molybdenum on the periodic table). Why these archaea appear to use tungsten is unknown. One guess is that tungsten may be in a form that is easier for the organisms to use in methane seeps, but that question will have to be answered in future experiments. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe don\u2019t know exactly why the organisms seem to be making a protein that binds the rare element tungsten instead of the more commonly used molybdenum,\u201d Glass said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGlass is currently writing a grant proposal to study a similar process in northern peatlands, which are large expanses of water and dead organic material. These peatlands, found in large expanses of high-latitude Canada, Europe and Russia, are significant sources of methane and that flux may increase with warming temperatures. Glass also plans to expand her research into oxygen-minimum zones, where large amounts of nitrous oxide are produced. Nitrous oxide is an important greenhouse gas and degrades the ozone layer. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe want to understand on a gene level and on a chemical level, what\u2019s going on in these processes, and then understand how this is going to change in the future with global warming and rising CO2,\u201d Glass said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research is supported by the Department of Energy under award number DE-SC0004949, the NASA Astrobiology Institute under award number OCE-0825791, and the National Science Foundation under awards MCB-0348492 and OCE-0825791. Any conclusions or opinions are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Department of Energy or NASA.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: JB Glass, et al. 2013 \u201cGeochemical, metagenomic and metaproteomic insights into trace metal utilization by methane-oxidizing microbial consortia in sulfidic marine sediments,\u201d \u0026nbsp;(Environmental Microbiology, 2013). \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1111\/1462-2920.12314\/abstract\u0022 title=\u0022http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1111\/1462-2920.12314\/abstract\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1111\/1462-2920.12314\/abstract\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E177 North Avenue\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAtlanta, Georgia 30332-0181 USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts:\u003C\/strong\u003E Brett Israel (404-385-1933) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Brett Israel\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA pair of microbes on the ocean floor \u201ceats\u201d methane in a unique way, and a new study provides insights into their surprising nutritional requirements. Learning how these methane-munching organisms make a living in these extreme environments could provide clues about how the deep-sea environment might change in a warming world.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A pair of microbes on the ocean floor \u201ceats\u201d methane in a unique way, and a new study provides insights into their surprising nutritional requirements."}],"uid":"27902","created_gmt":"2013-11-11 10:59:51","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:15:18","author":"Brett Israel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-11-11T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2013-11-11T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"253291":{"id":"253291","type":"image","title":"Dr. Jennifer Glass","body":null,"created":"1449243828","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:43:48","changed":"1475894931","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:51","alt":"Dr. Jennifer Glass","file":{"fid":"198148","name":"glass-profile.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/glass-profile_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/glass-profile_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":352190,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/glass-profile_0.jpg?itok=sYuJzVEw"}},"253301":{"id":"253301","type":"image","title":"Mimicking the deep sea.","body":null,"created":"1449243828","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:43:48","changed":"1475894931","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:51","alt":"Mimicking the deep sea.","file":{"fid":"198149","name":"glass-chamber.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/glass-chamber_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/glass-chamber_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":311745,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/glass-chamber_0.jpg?itok=iOoxnF13"}}},"media_ids":["253291","253301"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"154","name":"Environment"}],"keywords":[{"id":"10158","name":"jason"},{"id":"79441","name":"jennifer glass"},{"id":"12800","name":"methane"},{"id":"79451","name":"methane hydrates"},{"id":"7572","name":"microbes"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBrett Israel\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-385-1933\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}