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Maus I, Koeck DE, Cibis KG, Hahnke S, Kim YS, Langer T, Kreubel J, Erhard M, Bremges A, Off S, Stolze Y, Jaenicke S, Goesmann A, Sczyrba A, Scherer P, König H, Schwarz WH, Zverlov VV, Liebl W, Pühler A, Schlüter A, Klocke M. Unraveling the microbiome of a thermophilic biogas plant by metagenome and metatranscriptome analysis complemented by characterization of bacterial and archaeal isolates. Biotechnol Biofuels 2016; 9:171. [PMID: 27525040 PMCID: PMC4982221 DOI: 10.1186/s13068-016-0581-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 89] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2016] [Accepted: 07/27/2016] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND One of the most promising technologies to sustainably produce energy and to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from combustion of fossil energy carriers is the anaerobic digestion and biomethanation of organic raw material and waste towards biogas by highly diverse microbial consortia. In this context, the microbial systems ecology of thermophilic industrial-scale biogas plants is poorly understood. RESULTS The microbial community structure of an exemplary thermophilic biogas plant was analyzed by a comprehensive approach comprising the analysis of the microbial metagenome and metatranscriptome complemented by the cultivation of hydrolytic and acido-/acetogenic Bacteria as well as methanogenic Archaea. Analysis of metagenome-derived 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the bacterial genera Defluviitoga (5.5 %), Halocella (3.5 %), Clostridium sensu stricto (1.9 %), Clostridium cluster III (1.5 %), and Tepidimicrobium (0.7 %) were most abundant. Among the Archaea, Methanoculleus (2.8 %) and Methanothermobacter (0.8 %) were predominant. As revealed by a metatranscriptomic 16S rRNA analysis, Defluviitoga (9.2 %), Clostridium cluster III (4.8 %), and Tepidanaerobacter (1.1 %) as well as Methanoculleus (5.7 %) mainly contributed to these sequence tags indicating their metabolic activity, whereas Hallocella (1.8 %), Tepidimicrobium (0.5 %), and Methanothermobacter (<0.1 %) were transcriptionally less active. By applying 11 different cultivation strategies, 52 taxonomically different microbial isolates representing the classes Clostridia, Bacilli, Thermotogae, Methanomicrobia and Methanobacteria were obtained. Genome analyses of isolates support the finding that, besides Clostridium thermocellum and Clostridium stercorarium, Defluviitoga tunisiensis participated in the hydrolysis of hemicellulose producing ethanol, acetate, and H2/CO2. The latter three metabolites are substrates for hydrogentrophic and acetoclastic archaeal methanogenesis. CONCLUSIONS Obtained results showed that high abundance of microorganisms as deduced from metagenome analysis does not necessarily indicate high transcriptional or metabolic activity, and vice versa. Additionally, it appeared that the microbiome of the investigated thermophilic biogas plant comprised a huge number of up to now unknown and insufficiently characterized species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irena Maus
- Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec), Institute for Genome Research and Systems Biology, Bielefeld University, Universitätsstr. 27, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Daniela E. Koeck
- Department of Microbiology, Technische Universität München, Emil-Ramann-Str. 4, 85354 Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany
| | - Katharina G. Cibis
- Institute of Microbiology and Wine Research, Johannes Gutenberg-University, Becherweg 15, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Sarah Hahnke
- Dept. Bioengineering, Leibniz-Institut für Agrartechnik Potsdam-Bornim e.V. (ATB), Max-Eyth-Allee 100, 14469 Potsdam, Germany
| | - Yong S. Kim
- Faculty Life Sciences/Research Center ‚‘Biomass Utilization Hamburg’, University of Applied Sciences Hamburg (HAW), Ulmenliet 20, 21033 Hamburg-Bergedorf, Germany
| | - Thomas Langer
- Dept. Bioengineering, Leibniz-Institut für Agrartechnik Potsdam-Bornim e.V. (ATB), Max-Eyth-Allee 100, 14469 Potsdam, Germany
| | - Jana Kreubel
- Institute of Microbiology and Wine Research, Johannes Gutenberg-University, Becherweg 15, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Marcel Erhard
- RIPAC-LABOR GmbH, Am Mühlenberg 11, 14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany
| | - Andreas Bremges
- Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec), Institute for Genome Research and Systems Biology, Bielefeld University, Universitätsstr. 27, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
- Faculty of Technology, Bielefeld University, Universitätsstr. 25, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Sandra Off
- Faculty Life Sciences/Research Center ‚‘Biomass Utilization Hamburg’, University of Applied Sciences Hamburg (HAW), Ulmenliet 20, 21033 Hamburg-Bergedorf, Germany
| | - Yvonne Stolze
- Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec), Institute for Genome Research and Systems Biology, Bielefeld University, Universitätsstr. 27, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Sebastian Jaenicke
- Department of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, Justus-Liebig University Gießen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 58, 35392 Giessen, Germany
| | - Alexander Goesmann
- Department of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology, Justus-Liebig University Gießen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 58, 35392 Giessen, Germany
| | - Alexander Sczyrba
- Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec), Institute for Genome Research and Systems Biology, Bielefeld University, Universitätsstr. 27, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
- Faculty of Technology, Bielefeld University, Universitätsstr. 25, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Paul Scherer
- Faculty Life Sciences/Research Center ‚‘Biomass Utilization Hamburg’, University of Applied Sciences Hamburg (HAW), Ulmenliet 20, 21033 Hamburg-Bergedorf, Germany
| | - Helmut König
- Institute of Microbiology and Wine Research, Johannes Gutenberg-University, Becherweg 15, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Wolfgang H. Schwarz
- Department of Microbiology, Technische Universität München, Emil-Ramann-Str. 4, 85354 Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany
| | - Vladimir V. Zverlov
- Department of Microbiology, Technische Universität München, Emil-Ramann-Str. 4, 85354 Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Liebl
- Department of Microbiology, Technische Universität München, Emil-Ramann-Str. 4, 85354 Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany
| | - Alfred Pühler
- Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec), Institute for Genome Research and Systems Biology, Bielefeld University, Universitätsstr. 27, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Andreas Schlüter
- Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec), Institute for Genome Research and Systems Biology, Bielefeld University, Universitätsstr. 27, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Michael Klocke
- Dept. Bioengineering, Leibniz-Institut für Agrartechnik Potsdam-Bornim e.V. (ATB), Max-Eyth-Allee 100, 14469 Potsdam, Germany
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