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Abundance and diversity of archaeal accA gene in hot springs in Yunnan Province, China

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Abstract

It has been suggested that archaea carrying the accA gene, encoding the alpha subunit of the acetyl CoA carboxylase, autotrophically fix CO2 using the 3-hydroxypropionate/4-hydroxybutyrate pathway in low-temperature environments (e.g., soils, oceans). However, little new information has come to light regarding the occurrence of archaeal accA genes in high-temperature ecosystems. In this study, we investigated the abundance and diversity of archaeal accA gene in hot springs in Yunnan Province, China, using DNA- and RNA-based phylogenetic analyses and quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The results showed that archaeal accA genes were present and expressed in the investigated Yunnan hot springs with a wide range of temperatures (66–96 °C) and pH (4.3–9.0). The majority of the amplified archaeal accA gene sequences were affiliated with the ThAOA/HWCG III [thermophilic ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA)/hot water crenarchaeotic group III]. The archaeal accA gene abundance was very close to that of AOA amoA gene, encoding the alpha subunit of ammonia monooxygenase. These data suggest that AOA in terrestrial hot springs might acquire energy from ammonia oxidation coupled with CO2 fixation using the 3-hydroxypropionate/4-hydroxybutyrate pathway.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2010CB833801 and 2012CB822004), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 31070007, 40972211, 41030211, 41002123, and 41120124003), the Key Project of International Cooperation of China Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) (No. 2013DFA31980), Key Project of Yunnan Provincial Natural Science Foundation (2013FA004), Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University, MOE (NCET-12-0954), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the China Central Universities, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan). W-J Li was also supported by ‘Hundred Talents Program’ of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The authors also thank Chaolei Jiang, Jianxin Fang, Jinchuan Yin, Shaochuan Gong, Jiafu Sheng, and Mr. Ma and the entire staff from Yunnan Tengchong Volcano and Spa Tourist Attraction Development Corporation for sampling support, and Drs JI Prosser and Laura Lehtovirta (Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen) for providing accA gene of Nitrosotalea devanaterra. The authors are grateful to three anonymous reviewers whose constructive comments significantly improved the quality of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Microbial Diversity in Southwest China, Ministry of Education, and Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bio-resources, Yunnan Institute of Microbiology, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, China

    Zhao-Qi Song, Jin-Quan Chen, En-Min Zhou & Wen-Jun Li

  2. Engineering Technology Research Center of Biomass Degradation and Gasification, University of Henan Province, Shangqiu Normal University, Shangqiu, 476000, China

    Zhao-Qi Song, Li Wang & Feng Liang

  3. Key Laboratory of MOE for Microbial Metabolism and School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, State Key Laboratory of Ocean Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Feng-Ping Wang, Jin-Quan Chen & Xiang Xiao

  4. State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Hong-Chen Jiang

  5. Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresource in Arid Land, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ürűmqi, 830011, China

    Wen-Jun Li

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  1. Zhao-Qi Song
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  2. Li Wang
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  9. Wen-Jun Li
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Correspondence to Hong-Chen Jiang or Wen-Jun Li.

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Communicated by F. Robb.

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Song, ZQ., Wang, L., Wang, FP. et al. Abundance and diversity of archaeal accA gene in hot springs in Yunnan Province, China. Extremophiles 17, 871–879 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-013-0570-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-013-0570-4

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