Publication Date:
2006-07-22
Description:
Rice fields are a global source of the greenhouse gas methane, which is produced by methanogenic archaea, and by methanogens of Rice Cluster I (RC-I) in particular. RC-I methanogens are not yet available in pure culture, and the mechanistic reasons for their prevalence in rice fields are unknown. We reconstructed a complete RC-I genome (3.18 megabases) using a metagenomic approach. Sequence analysis demonstrated an aerotolerant, H2/CO2-dependent lifestyle and enzymatic capacities for carbohydrate metabolism and assimilatory sulfate reduction, hitherto unknown among methanogens. These capacities and a unique set of antioxidant enzymes and DNA repair mechanisms as well as oxygen-insensitive enzymes provide RC-I with a selective advantage over other methanogens in its habitats, thereby explaining the prevalence of RC-I methanogens in the rice rhizosphere.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Erkel, Christoph -- Kube, Michael -- Reinhardt, Richard -- Liesack, Werner -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2006 Jul 21;313(5785):370-2.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Max-Planck-Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Karl-von-Frisch-Strasse, 35043 Marburg, Germany.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16857943" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Amino Acid Sequence
;
Amino Acids/biosynthesis/metabolism
;
Carbohydrate Metabolism
;
DNA Repair
;
Euryarchaeota/classification/*genetics/metabolism/physiology
;
*Genome, Archaeal
;
Genomics
;
Glycolysis
;
Methane/*biosynthesis
;
Methanomicrobiales/classification/genetics/metabolism/physiology
;
Methanosarcinales/classification/genetics/metabolism/physiology
;
Molecular Sequence Data
;
Oryza/*microbiology
;
Oxidative Stress
;
Pyruvic Acid/metabolism
;
Sequence Alignment
;
Sequence Analysis, DNA
;
*Soil Microbiology
;
Sulfates/metabolism
;
Sulfur/metabolism
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
