13C methanol SIP (WCO station L4). marine metagenome

Methanol is a biochemically active, volatile organic compound that plays an important role in tropospheric oxidant photochemistry. It has recently been suggested that the global ocean, where surface methanol concentrations are in the ~30-400 nM range, is a net sink for atmospheric methanol. In the marine environment, this (and other) one-carbon compound is used as an energy and carbon source by bacteria known as methylotrophs. So far, little is known about the identity of the active methanol oxidisers in marine habitats. In this study, Stable Isotope Probing using 13C labelled methanol was combined with 16S rRNA and functional gene amplicon sequencing as well as metagenome sequencing to identify methylotrophic bacteria that are responsible for methanol assimilation in samples obtained from the Western Channel Observatory station L4.

甲醇是一种具有生物活性的挥发性有机化合物，在对流层氧化剂光化学过程中发挥着关键作用。近期研究表明，表层甲醇浓度介于约30~400纳摩尔（nM）的全球海洋，是大气甲醇的净汇。在海洋环境中，这类（及其他）一碳化合物可被甲基营养菌（methylotrophs）这类细菌用作能量与碳源。目前学界对海洋生境中活跃甲醇氧化菌的物种身份仍知之甚少。本研究将采用基于13C标记甲醇的稳定同位素探针（Stable Isotope Probing）技术，结合16S核糖体RNA（16S rRNA）、功能基因扩增子测序与宏基因组测序，对西通道观测站L4站点获取的样本展开分析，以鉴定出介导甲醇同化作用的甲基营养型细菌。