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Research Article | Applied and Environmental Science

Methane-Linked Mechanisms of Electron Uptake from Cathodes by Methanosarcina barkeri

Annette R. Rowe, Shuai Xu, Emily Gardel, Arpita Bose, Peter Girguis, Jan P. Amend, Mohamed Y. El-Naggar
Markus W. Ribbe, Editor
Annette R. Rowe
aDepartment of Biological Science, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
bDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
cDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
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Shuai Xu
bDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
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Emily Gardel
dDepartment of Organismal and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
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Arpita Bose
dDepartment of Organismal and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
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Peter Girguis
dDepartment of Organismal and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
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Jan P. Amend
cDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
eDepartment of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
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Mohamed Y. El-Naggar
bDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
eDepartment of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
fDepartment of Chemistry, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
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Markus W. Ribbe
University of California, Irvine
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DOI: 10.1128/mBio.02448-18
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ABSTRACT

The Methanosarcinales, a lineage of cytochrome-containing methanogens, have recently been proposed to participate in direct extracellular electron transfer interactions within syntrophic communities. To shed light on this phenomenon, we applied electrochemical techniques to measure electron uptake from cathodes by Methanosarcina barkeri, which is an important model organism that is genetically tractable and utilizes a wide range of substrates for methanogenesis. Here, we confirm the ability of M. barkeri to perform electron uptake from cathodes and show that this cathodic current is linked to quantitative increases in methane production. The underlying mechanisms we identified include, but are not limited to, a recently proposed association between cathodes and methanogen-derived extracellular enzymes (e.g., hydrogenases) that can facilitate current generation through the formation of reduced and diffusible methanogenic substrates (e.g., hydrogen). However, after minimizing the contributions of such extracellular enzymes and using a mutant lacking hydrogenases, we observe a lower-potential hydrogen-independent pathway that facilitates cathodic activity coupled to methane production in M. barkeri. Our electrochemical measurements of wild-type and mutant strains point to a novel and hydrogenase-free mode of electron uptake with a potential near −484 mV versus standard hydrogen electrode (SHE) (over 100 mV more reduced than the observed hydrogenase midpoint potential under these conditions). These results suggest that M. barkeri can perform multiple modes (hydrogenase-mediated and free extracellular enzyme-independent modes) of electrode interactions on cathodes, including a mechanism pointing to a direct interaction, which has significant applied and ecological implications.

IMPORTANCE Methanogenic archaea are of fundamental applied and environmental relevance. This is largely due to their activities in a wide range of anaerobic environments, generating gaseous reduced carbon that can be utilized as a fuel source. While the bioenergetics of a wide variety of methanogens have been well studied with respect to soluble substrates, a mechanistic understanding of their interaction with solid-phase redox-active compounds is limited. This work provides insight into solid-phase redox interactions in Methanosarcina spp. using electrochemical methods. We highlight a previously undescribed mode of electron uptake from cathodes that is potentially informative of direct interspecies electron transfer interactions in the Methanosarcinales.

  • Copyright © 2019 Rowe et al.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.

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Methane-Linked Mechanisms of Electron Uptake from Cathodes by Methanosarcina barkeri
Annette R. Rowe, Shuai Xu, Emily Gardel, Arpita Bose, Peter Girguis, Jan P. Amend, Mohamed Y. El-Naggar
mBio Mar 2019, 10 (2) e02448-18; DOI: 10.1128/mBio.02448-18

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Methane-Linked Mechanisms of Electron Uptake from Cathodes by Methanosarcina barkeri
Annette R. Rowe, Shuai Xu, Emily Gardel, Arpita Bose, Peter Girguis, Jan P. Amend, Mohamed Y. El-Naggar
mBio Mar 2019, 10 (2) e02448-18; DOI: 10.1128/mBio.02448-18
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KEYWORDS

archaea
Methanosarcina
bioelectrochemistry
cathode
electrosynthesis
methanogenesis
methanogens
syntrophs

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