Methanogenesis from methanol at low temperatures by a novel psychrophilic methanogen, "Methanolobus psychrophilus" sp. nov., prevalent in Zoige wetland of the Tibetan plateau.

The Zoige wetland of the Tibetan plateau is at permanent low temperatures and is a methane emission heartland of the plateau; however, cold-adaptive methanogens in the soil are poorly understood. In this study, a variety of methanogenic enrichments at 15 degrees C and 30 degrees C were obtained from the wetland soil. It was demonstrated that hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis was the most efficient type at 30 degrees C, while methanol supported the highest methanogenesis rate at 15 degrees C. Moreover, methanol was the only substrate to produce methane more efficiently at 15 degrees C than at 30 degrees C. A novel psychrophilic methanogen, strain R15, was isolated from the methanol enrichment at 15 degrees C. Phylogenetic analysis placed strain R15 within the genus Methanolobus, loosely clustered with Methanolobus taylorii (96.7% 16S rRNA similarity). R15 produced methane from methanol, trimethylamine, and methyl sulfide and differed from other Methanolobus species by growing and producing methane optimally at 18 degrees C (specific growth rate of 0.063 +/- 0.001 h(-1)) and even at 0 degrees C. Based on these characteristics, R15 was proposed to be a new species and named "Methanolobus psychrophilus" sp. nov. The K(m) and V(max) of R15 for methanol conversion were determined to be 87.5 +/- 0.4 microM and 0.39 +/- 0.04 mM h(-1) at 18 degrees C, respectively, indicating a high affinity and conversion efficiency for methanol. The proportion of R15 in the soil was determined by quantitative PCR, and it accounted for 17.2% +/- 2.1% of the total archaea, enumerated as 10(7) per gram of soil; the proportion was increased to 42.4% +/- 2.3% in the methanol enrichment at 15 degrees C. This study suggests that the psychrophilic methanogens in the Zoige wetland are likely to be methylotrophic and to play a role in methane emission of the wetland.