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Differences in the methanogen community between the nearshore and offshore sediments of the South Yellow Sea

  • Microbial Ecology and Environmental Microbiology
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Abstract

The differences in methanogen abundance and community composition were investigated between nearshore and offshore sediments in the South Yellow Sea (SYS). Shannon, Simpson, and Chao1 indices revealed a higher diversity of methanogens in the nearshore sediments than in the offshore sediments. The Mann—Whitney U test demonstrated that the relative abundance of Methanococcoides was significantly higher in the offshore sediments, while the relative abundances of Methanogenium, Methanosarcina, Methanosaeta, Methanolinea, and Methanomassiliicoccus were significantly higher in the nearshore sediments (P < 0.05). The abundance of the mcrA gene in the nearshore sediments was significantly higher than that in the offshore sediments. Furthermore, a similar vertical distribution of the methanogen and sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) abundances was observed in the SYS sediments, implying there is potential cooperation between these two functional microbes in this environment. Finally, total organic carbon (TOC) was significantly correlated with methanogen community composition.

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Acknowledgements

We thank all of the scientists and crew members on the R/V Ke Xue San Hao for the assistance provided in the collection of samples during the cruise. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41806131 and 42106137), the Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation, China (No. ZR2019QG00) and the Marine S&T Fund of Shandong Province for Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology(Qingdao) (No. 2021QNLM020002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Gas Hydrate, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao Institute of Marine Geology, Qingdao, 266071, P. R. China

    Ye Chen

  2. Laboratory for Marine Ecology and Environmental Science, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao), Qingdao, 266237, P. R. China

    Yu Zhen, Xia Yin, Siqi Li & Tiezhu Mi

  3. Key Laboratory of Marine Environment and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Qingdao, 266100, P. R. China

    Yu Zhen, Xia Yin, Siqi Li & Tiezhu Mi

  4. College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, P. R. China

    Yu Zhen, Xia Yin & Tiezhu Mi

  5. Saline-alkali Tolerant Rice R&D Center, Qingdao, 266000, P. R. China

    Jili Wan & Jiayin Liu

  6. Qingdao Empyrean Intellectual Agriculture Group Co., Ltd., Qingdao, 266109, P. R. China

    Jili Wan & Guodong Zhang

  7. National Center of Technology Innovation for Saline-alkali Tolerant Rice, Qingdao, 266109, P. R. China

    Jili Wan, Jiayin Liu, Guodong Zhang & Tiezhu Mi

  8. College of Marine Life Science, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, P. R. China

    Siqi Li

  9. Qingdao Yuance Group Co, Ltd., Qingdao, 266000, P. R. China

    Jiayin Liu

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  1. Ye Chen
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Chen, Y., Zhen, Y., Wan, J. et al. Differences in the methanogen community between the nearshore and offshore sediments of the South Yellow Sea. J Microbiol. 60, 814–822 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-022-2022-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-022-2022-2

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