Methanocaldococcus bathoardescens sp. nov., a hyperthermophilic methanogen isolated from a volcanically active deep-sea hydrothermal vent.

A hyperthermophilic methanogen, strain JH146(T), was isolated from 26 °C hydrothermal vent fluid emanating from a crack in basaltic rock at Marker 113 vent, Axial Seamount in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. It was identified as an obligate anaerobe that uses only H2 and CO2 for growth. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the strain is more than 97% similar to other species of the genus Methanocaldococcus . Therefore, overall genome relatedness index analyses were performed to establish that strain JH146(T) represents a novel species. For each analysis, strain JH146(T) was most similar to Methanocaldococcus sp. FS406-22, which can fix N2 and also comes from Marker 113 vent. However, strain JH146(T) differs from strain FS406-22 in that it cannot fix N2. The average nucleotide identity score for strain JH146(T) was 87%, the genome-to-genome direct comparison score was 33-55% and the species identification score was 93%. For each analysis, strain JH146(T) was below the species delineation cut-off. Full-genome gene synteny analysis showed that strain JH146(T) and strain FS406-22 have 97% genome synteny, but strain JH146(T) was missing the operons necessary for N2 fixation and assimilatory nitrate reduction that are present in strain FS406-22. Based on its whole genome sequence, strain JH146(T) is suggested to represent a novel species of the genus Methanocaldococcus for which the name Methanocaldococcus bathoardescens is proposed. The type strain is JH146(T) ( = DSM 27223(T) = KACC 18232(T)).

Growth kinetics and energetics of a deep-sea hyperthermophilic methanogen under varying environmental conditions.

A hyperthermophilic deep-sea methanogen, Methanocaldococcus strain JH146, was isolated from 26°C hydrothermal fluid at Axial Volcano to model high temperature methanogenesis in the subseafloor. Emphasis was placed on defining growth kinetics, cell yields and growth energy demand (GE) across a range of conditions. The organism uses H2 and CO2 as its sole carbon and energy sources. At various temperatures, pHs, and chlorinities, its growth rates and cell yields co-varied while GE remained uniform at 1.69 × 10(-11) J cell(-1)s(-1) ± 0.68 × 10(-11) J cell(-1)s(-1) (s.d., n = 23). An exception was at superoptimal growth temperatures where GE increased to 7.25 × 10(-11) J cell(-1)s(-1) presumably due to heat shock. GE also increased from 5.1 × 10(-12) J cell(-1)s(-1) to 7.61 × 10(-11) J cell(-1)s(-1) as NH4 (+) concentrations decreased from 9.4 mM to 0.14 mM. JH146 did not fix N2 or assimilate NO3 (-), lacked the N2-fixing (cluster II) nifH gene, and became nitrogen limited below 0.14 mM NH4Cl. Nitrogen availability may impact growth in situ since ammonia concentrations at Axial Volcano are < 18 µM. Our approach contributes to refining bioenergetic and carbon flux models for methanogens and other organisms in hydrothermal vents and other environments.