← Back to Communities

ANME-SRB Marine Methane Seep Consortium

Community ID CommunityMech:000134
Ecological State STABLE
Environment marine sediment
ENVO:00002007

Natural marine methane-seep consortia in which anaerobic methanotrophic archaea (ANME) grow in syntrophic partnership with sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB). These structured aggregates couple anaerobic oxidation of methane to sulfate reduction, limiting methane release from ocean sediments. The interaction is frequently organized as multicellular consortia containing ANME archaeal cells and bacterial sulfate reducers, with genomic evidence supporting direct interspecies electron transfer from ANME to the SRB partner.

Taxonomy

Taxon Ontology ID Functional Roles Abundance
anaerobic methanotrophic archaea NCBITaxon:2157
PRIMARY_DEGRADER
N/A
  • PMID:37747940 - SUPPORT (COMPUTATIONAL)
    "anaerobic methanotrophic archaea (ANME) in obligate syntrophic partnership"
  • PMID:34986141 - SUPPORT (COMPUTATIONAL)
    "none of which have been isolated in pure culture"
sulfate-reducing bacterial partners NCBITaxon:213118
SYNTROPHIC_PARTNER
N/A
  • PMID:19383036 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "sulfate-reducing bacteria (DSS), frequently found as organized consortia"
  • PMID:11034209 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "a bacterium related to sulphate-reducing bacteria"

Ecological Interactions

Ecological interaction network for ANME-SRB Marine Methane Seep Consortium Bipartite graph where circle nodes represent taxa and each ecological interaction is drawn as a distinct non-circular symbol, with colour repeating the same distinction (syntrophy).
Taxon
Syntrophy

Sulfate-Coupled Anaerobic Methane Oxidation

SYNTROPHY

Source Taxon: anaerobic methanotrophic archaea

Target Taxon: sulfate-reducing bacterial partners

Metabolites: methane (CHEBI:16183), sulfate (CHEBI:16189), carbon dioxide (CHEBI:16526)

Evidence

  • PMID:37747940 - SUPPORT (COMPUTATIONAL)
    "Sulfate-coupled anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) is performed by multicellular consortia"
  • PMID:19383036 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Methane release from the oceans is controlled in large part by syntrophic interactions"

Direct Interspecies Electron Transfer

SYNTROPHY

Source Taxon: anaerobic methanotrophic archaea

Target Taxon: sulfate-reducing bacterial partners

Biological Processes:

  • interspecies interaction between organisms (GO:0044419)
Downstream Effects:
→ Sulfate-Coupled Anaerobic Methane Oxidation
→ Sulfate-Coupled Anaerobic Methane Oxidation

Evidence

  • PMID:37747940 - SUPPORT (COMPUTATIONAL)
    "direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) from ANME to the SRB outer membrane"
  • PMID:33975943 - SUPPORT (COMPUTATIONAL)
    "multiheme cytochromes containing putative S-layer domains"

Associated Datasets

Dataset Type Repository Accession
ANME comparative metagenomics resource
Comparative genomic analysis of ANME genomes reconstructed from environmental metagenomes and flow-sorted syntrophic consortia. 		METAGENOMICS OTHER PMID:34986141

Environmental Factors

Factor Value Unit
Methane-rich anoxic marine sediment Gas-hydrate-rich and methane-seep sediments N/A
  • PMID:11034209 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "abundant in gas-hydrate-rich sediments"
Sulfate availability Sulfate as terminal electron acceptor N/A
  • PMID:34986141 - SUPPORT (COMPUTATIONAL)
    "anaerobic oxidation of methane coupled to sulfate reduction"
Sulfite inhibition of anaerobic methane oxidation Sulfite (1.0 mM) inhibitory to ANME N/A
  • PMID:30559729 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "sulfite at concentration of 1.0 mM was found to be inhibitory to ANME, leading to an immediate decrease in the rate of AOM"
Zero-valent sulfur inhibition of anaerobic methane oxidation Polythionate/polysulfide (0.25-1.0 mM) inhibitory to ANME N/A
  • PMID:30559729 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "zero-valent sulfur amendments were inhibitory to ANME-2a/2c while growth in their syntrophic SRB partner was not observed"

Growth Media

Anaerobic artificial seawater sediment/rock microcosm (methane seep AOM incubation)

Temperature variable by sample (4, 24, or 50 degrees C) °C
Atmosphere ANAEROBIC

Composition

Component Concentration Unit CHEBI
methane N/A N/A N/A
sulfate N/A N/A N/A
pyruvate N/A N/A N/A

Preparation notes: Samples were stored under an N2 atmosphere at 4°C prior to microcosm incubation. ANME-SRB consortia were incubated in (anaerobic) artificial seawater; sediment horizons received CH4 plus 250 μM L-Homopropargylglycine (HPG) at 4°C, and metabolic activity was confirmed by sulfide accumulation and BONCAT/HPG incorporation. Rock and push-core variants were incubated with CH4 (50°C), with pyruvate (24°C), or without added electron donor (24°C). Single active ANME:SRB aggregates were subsequently FACS-sorted for metagenomics.

Evidence

PMID:37747940

"was incubated in anaerobic artificial sea water without electron donor at 24°C"

PMID:37747940

"artificial sea water supplemented with pyruvate at 24°C"

PMID:37747940

"250 μM L-Homopropargylglycine (HPG) at 4°C"

PMID:37747940

"atmosphere at 4°C for sediment microcosm incubations"

PMID:37747940

"Push-core samples of seafloor sediment were collected from different locations on the Costa Rica margin"