Decoupling between sulfate reduction and the anaerobic oxidation of methane in the shallow methane seep of the Black sea

ABSTRACT

Methane seepages are widespread in the Black Sea. However, microbiological research has been carried out only at the continental shelf seeps. The present work dealt with coastal gas seepages of the Kalamit Bay (Black Sea). High-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing and radiotracer analysis (¹⁴С and ³⁵S) were used to determine the composition of the microbial community and the rates of microbial sulfate reduction and methane oxidation. The phylum Proteobacteria, represented mainly by sulfate reducers of the class Deltaproteobacteria, was the predominant in sequence dataset. Bacteroidetes and Planctomycetes were other numerous phyla. Among archaea, the phylum Woesearchaeota and Marine Benthic Group B were predominant in the upper horizons. Relative abundance of Euryarchaeota of the families Methanomicrobiaceae and Methanosarcinaceae (including ANME-3 archaea) increased in deeper sediment layers. Sulfate reduction rate (up to 2.9 mmol/L × day) was considerably higher than the rate of anaerobic methane oxidation (up to 43.4 μmol/L × day), which indicated insignificant contribution of anaerobic methane oxidation to the total sulfide production.