{"response":{"status":"ok","message_type":"publication"},"id":2951,"citation":"Zehnle et al., 2023, Nature Microbiology","doi":"10.1038/s41564-023-01400-3","url":"https://api.seqco.de/v1/publications/2951.json","link_ext":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-023-01400-3","title":"Candidatus Alkanophaga archaea from Guaymas Basin hydrothermal vent sediment oxidize petroleum alkanes","journal":"Nature Microbiology","journal_loc":"8 (7)","journal_date":"2023-06-01","pub_type":"journal-article","abstract":"\u003cjats:title\u003eAbstract\u003c/jats:title\u003e\u003cjats:p\u003eMethanogenic and methanotrophic archaea produce and consume the greenhouse gas methane, respectively, using the reversible enzyme methyl-coenzyme M reductase (Mcr). Recently, Mcr variants that can activate multicarbon alkanes have been recovered from archaeal enrichment cultures. These enzymes, called alkyl-coenzyme M reductase (Acrs), are widespread in the environment but remain poorly understood. Here we produced anoxic cultures degrading mid-chain petroleum \u003cjats:italic\u003en\u003c/jats:italic\u003e-alkanes between pentane (C\u003cjats:sub\u003e5\u003c/jats:sub\u003e) and tetradecane (C\u003cjats:sub\u003e14\u003c/jats:sub\u003e) at 70 °C using oil-rich Guaymas Basin sediments. In these cultures, archaea of the genus \u003cjats:italic\u003eCandidatus\u003c/jats:italic\u003e Alkanophaga activate the alkanes with Acrs and completely oxidize the alkyl groups to CO\u003cjats:sub\u003e2\u003c/jats:sub\u003e. \u003cjats:italic\u003eCa\u003c/jats:italic\u003e. Alkanophaga form a deep-branching sister clade to the methanotrophs ANME-1 and are closely related to the short-chain alkane oxidizers \u003cjats:italic\u003eCa\u003c/jats:italic\u003e. Syntrophoarchaeum. Incapable of sulfate reduction, \u003cjats:italic\u003eCa\u003c/jats:italic\u003e. Alkanophaga shuttle electrons released from alkane oxidation to the sulfate-reducing \u003cjats:italic\u003eCa\u003c/jats:italic\u003e. Thermodesulfobacterium syntrophicum. These syntrophic consortia are potential key players in petroleum degradation in heated oil reservoirs.\u003c/jats:p\u003e","long_citation_html":"Zehnle et al. (2023). Candidatus Alkanophaga archaea from Guaymas Basin hydrothermal vent sediment oxidize petroleum alkanes. \n\u003ci\u003eNature Microbiology\u003c/i\u003e. \u003ca href=\"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-023-01400-3\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eDOI:10.1038/s41564-023-01400-3\u003c/a\u003e\n","created_at":"2023-06-02T22:00:16.343Z","updated_at":"2025-11-06T14:15:47.295Z","authors":[{"id":10794,"given":"Hanna","family":"Zehnle","created_at":"2022-10-04T22:00:34.625Z","updated_at":"2022-10-04T22:00:34.625Z","url":"https://api.seqco.de/v1/authors/10794.json"},{"id":6687,"given":"Rafael","family":"Laso-Pérez","created_at":"2019-08-25T06:30:58.345Z","updated_at":"2019-08-25T06:30:58.345Z","url":"https://api.seqco.de/v1/authors/6687.json"},{"id":10795,"given":"Julius","family":"Lipp","created_at":"2022-10-04T22:00:34.664Z","updated_at":"2022-10-04T22:00:34.664Z","url":"https://api.seqco.de/v1/authors/10795.json"},{"id":11749,"given":"Dietmar","family":"Riedel","created_at":"2023-06-02T22:00:16.439Z","updated_at":"2023-06-02T22:00:16.439Z","url":"https://api.seqco.de/v1/authors/11749.json"},{"id":11750,"given":"David","family":"Benito Merino","created_at":"2023-06-02T22:00:16.451Z","updated_at":"2023-06-02T22:00:16.451Z","url":"https://api.seqco.de/v1/authors/11750.json"},{"id":2725,"given":"Andreas","family":"Teske","created_at":"2019-04-15T18:47:30.888Z","updated_at":"2019-04-15T18:47:30.888Z","url":"https://api.seqco.de/v1/authors/2725.json"},{"id":3798,"given":"Gunter","family":"Wegener","created_at":"2019-04-15T19:19:33.585Z","updated_at":"2019-04-15T19:19:33.585Z","url":"https://api.seqco.de/v1/authors/3798.json"}],"names":[{"id":23631,"name":"Candidatus Alkanophaga","url":"https://api.seqco.de/v1/names/23631.json","uri":"https://seqco.de/i:23631"},{"id":31354,"name":"Candidatus Thermodesulfobacterium syntrophicum","url":"https://api.seqco.de/v1/names/31354.json","uri":"https://seqco.de/i:31354"}],"subjects":[{"id":23,"name":"Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology","url":"https://api.seqco.de/v1/subjects/23.json"},{"id":30,"name":"Cell Biology","url":"https://api.seqco.de/v1/subjects/30.json"},{"id":15,"name":"Genetics","url":"https://api.seqco.de/v1/subjects/15.json"},{"id":10,"name":"Immunology","url":"https://api.seqco.de/v1/subjects/10.json"},{"id":9,"name":"Microbiology","url":"https://api.seqco.de/v1/subjects/9.json"},{"id":8,"name":"Microbiology (medical)","url":"https://api.seqco.de/v1/subjects/8.json"}]}