A widespread group of large plasmids in methanotrophic Methanoperedens archaea.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 36400771.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-022-34588-9 and PMC identifier 9674854.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Anaerobic methanotrophic (ANME) archaea obtain energy from the breakdown of methane, yet their extrachromosomal genetic elements are little understood. Here we describe large plasmids associated with ANME archaea of the Methanoperedens genus in enrichment cultures and other natural anoxic environments. By manual curation we show that two of the plasmids are large (155,605 bp and 191,912 bp), circular, and may replicate bidirectionally. The plasmids occur in the same copy number as the main chromosome, and plasmid genes are actively transcribed. One of the plasmids encodes three tRNAs, ribosomal protein uL16 and elongation factor eEF2; these genes appear to be missing in the host Methanoperedens genome, suggesting an obligate interdependence between plasmid and host. Our work opens the way for the development of genetic vectors to shed light on the physiology and biochemistry of Methanoperedens, and potentially genetically edit them to enhance growth and accelerate methane oxidation rates.
Medical subject headings
- Archaea
- Methane