{"title":"Ubiquity of methanogenic archaea in the trunk of coniferous and broadleaved tree species in a mountain forest","authors":"Mikitoshi Harada, Atsuya Endo, Shuji Wada, Takeshi Watanabe, Daniel Epron, Susumu Asakawa","doi":"10.1007/s10482-024-02004-5","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Wetwood of living trees is a habitat of methanogenic archaea, but the ubiquity of methanogenic archaea in the trunk of various trees has not been revealed. The present study analysed methanogenic archaeal communities inside coniferous and broadleaved trees in a cold temperate mountain forest by culture-dependent or independent techniques. Heartwood and sapwood segments were obtained from the trunk of seven tree species, <i>Cryptomeria japonica</i>, <i>Quercus crispula</i>, <i>Fraxinus mandshurica</i>, <i>Acer pictum</i>, <i>Aesculus turbinata</i>, <i>Magnolia obovata</i>, and <i>Populus tremula</i>. Amplicon sequencing analysis of 16S rRNA genes showed that <i>Methanobacteriaceae</i> predominated the archaeal communities and <i>Methanomassiliicoccaceae</i> also inhabited some trees. Real-time PCR analysis detected methanogenic archaeal <i>mcrA</i> genes from all the tree species, with a maximum of 10<sup>7</sup> copies g<sup>−1</sup> dry wood. Digital PCR analysis also detected <i>mcrA</i> genes derived from <i>Methanobacterium</i> spp. and <i>Methanobrevibacter</i> spp. from several samples, with a maximum of 10<sup>5</sup> and 10<sup>4</sup> copies g<sup>−1</sup> dry wood. The enumeration by the most probable number method demonstrated the inhabitation of viable methanogenic archaea inside the trees; 10<sup>6</sup> cells g<sup>−1</sup> dry wood was enumerated from a heartwood sample of <i>C. japonica</i>. Methanogenic archaea related to <i>Methanobacterium beijingense</i> were cultivated from a heartwood sample of <i>Q. crispula</i> and <i>F. mandshurica</i>. The present study demonstrated that the inside of various trees is a common habitat for methanogenic archaeal communities and a potential source of methane in forest ecosystems.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50746,"journal":{"name":"Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek International Journal of General and Molecular Microbiology","volume":"117 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek International Journal of General and Molecular Microbiology","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10482-024-02004-5","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"MICROBIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Wetwood of living trees is a habitat of methanogenic archaea, but the ubiquity of methanogenic archaea in the trunk of various trees has not been revealed. The present study analysed methanogenic archaeal communities inside coniferous and broadleaved trees in a cold temperate mountain forest by culture-dependent or independent techniques. Heartwood and sapwood segments were obtained from the trunk of seven tree species, Cryptomeria japonica, Quercus crispula, Fraxinus mandshurica, Acer pictum, Aesculus turbinata, Magnolia obovata, and Populus tremula. Amplicon sequencing analysis of 16S rRNA genes showed that Methanobacteriaceae predominated the archaeal communities and Methanomassiliicoccaceae also inhabited some trees. Real-time PCR analysis detected methanogenic archaeal mcrA genes from all the tree species, with a maximum of 107 copies g−1 dry wood. Digital PCR analysis also detected mcrA genes derived from Methanobacterium spp. and Methanobrevibacter spp. from several samples, with a maximum of 105 and 104 copies g−1 dry wood. The enumeration by the most probable number method demonstrated the inhabitation of viable methanogenic archaea inside the trees; 106 cells g−1 dry wood was enumerated from a heartwood sample of C. japonica. Methanogenic archaea related to Methanobacterium beijingense were cultivated from a heartwood sample of Q. crispula and F. mandshurica. The present study demonstrated that the inside of various trees is a common habitat for methanogenic archaeal communities and a potential source of methane in forest ecosystems.
期刊介绍:
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek publishes papers on fundamental and applied aspects of microbiology. Topics of particular interest include: taxonomy, structure & development; biochemistry & molecular biology; physiology & metabolic studies; genetics; ecological studies; especially molecular ecology; marine microbiology; medical microbiology; molecular biological aspects of microbial pathogenesis and bioinformatics.