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Complex community of nitrite-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation bacteria in coastal sediments of the Mai Po wetland by PCR amplification of both 16S rRNA and pmoA genes

  • Environmental biotechnology
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Abstract

In the present work, both 16S rRNA and pmoA gene-based PCR primers were employed successfully to study the diversity and distribution of n-damo bacteria in the surface and lower layer sediments at the coastal Mai Po wetland. The occurrence of n-damo bacteria in both the surface and subsurface sediments with high diversity was confirmed in this study. Unlike the two other known n-damo communities from coastal areas, the pmoA gene-amplified sequences in the present work clustered not only with some freshwater subclusters but also within three newly erected marine subclusters mostly, indicating the unique niche specificity of n-damo bacteria in this wetland. Results suggested vegetation affected the distribution and community structures of n-damo bacteria in the sediments and n-damo could coexist with sulfate-reducing methanotrophs in the coastal ecosystem. Community structures of the Mai Po n-damo bacteria based on 16S rRNA gene were different from those of either the freshwater or the marine. In contrast, structures of the Mai Po n-damo communities based on pmoA gene grouped with the marine ones and were clearly distinguished from the freshwater ones. The abundance of n-damo bacteria at this wetland was quantified using 16S rRNA gene PCR primers to be 2.65–6.71 × 105 copies/g dry sediment. Ammonium and nitrite strongly affected the community structures and distribution of n-damo bacteria in the coastal Mai Po wetland sediments.

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Acknowledgments

This project was supported by Hong Kong PhD Fellowship (JC), University of Hong Kong Foundation PhD Fellowship (ZCZ), and RGC GRF grant No. 701913 (J-DG). Additional financial support for this research project was from the laboratory fund. We thank Dr. Yong-Feng Wang for helping with the sampling and Ms. Kelly Lau for general laboratory assistance.

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  1. Laboratory of Environmental Microbiology and Toxicology, School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, People’s Republic of China

    Jing Chen, Zhichao Zhou & Ji-Dong Gu

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  1. Jing Chen
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  2. Zhichao Zhou
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  3. Ji-Dong Gu
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Correspondence to Ji-Dong Gu.

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Chen, J., Zhou, Z. & Gu, JD. Complex community of nitrite-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation bacteria in coastal sediments of the Mai Po wetland by PCR amplification of both 16S rRNA and pmoA genes. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 99, 1463–1473 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-014-6051-6

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