Nitrite-driven anaerobic ethane oxidation

Ethane, the second most abundant gaseous hydrocarbon in vast anoxic environments, is an overlooked greenhouse gas. Microbial anaerobic oxidation of ethane can be driven by available electron acceptors such as sulfate and nitrate. However, despite nitrite being a more thermodynamically feasible elect...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Cheng-Cheng Dang, Yin-Zhu Jin, Xin Tan, Wen-Bo Nie, Yang Lu, Bing-Feng Liu, De-Feng Xing, Nan-Qi Ren, Guo-Jun Xie
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-09-01
Series:Environmental Science and Ecotechnology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666498424000528
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850264123887058944
author Cheng-Cheng Dang
Yin-Zhu Jin
Xin Tan
Wen-Bo Nie
Yang Lu
Bing-Feng Liu
De-Feng Xing
Nan-Qi Ren
Guo-Jun Xie
author_facet Cheng-Cheng Dang
Yin-Zhu Jin
Xin Tan
Wen-Bo Nie
Yang Lu
Bing-Feng Liu
De-Feng Xing
Nan-Qi Ren
Guo-Jun Xie
author_sort Cheng-Cheng Dang
collection DOAJ
description Ethane, the second most abundant gaseous hydrocarbon in vast anoxic environments, is an overlooked greenhouse gas. Microbial anaerobic oxidation of ethane can be driven by available electron acceptors such as sulfate and nitrate. However, despite nitrite being a more thermodynamically feasible electron acceptor than sulfate or nitrate, little is known about nitrite-driven anaerobic ethane oxidation. In this study, a microbial culture capable of nitrite-driven anaerobic ethane oxidation was enriched through the long-term operation of a nitrite-and-ethane-fed bioreactor. During continuous operation, the nitrite removal rate and the theoretical ethane oxidation rate remained stable at approximately 25.0 mg NO2–N L−1 d−1 and 11.48 mg C2H6 L−1 d−1, respectively. Batch tests demonstrated that ethane is essential for nitrite removal in this microbial culture. Metabolic function analysis revealed that a species affiliated with a novel genus within the family Rhodocyclaceae, designated as 'Candidatus Alkanivoras nitrosoreducens', may perform the nitrite-driven anaerobic ethane oxidation. In the proposed metabolic model, despite the absence of known genes for ethane conversion to ethyl-succinate and succinate-CoA ligase, 'Ca. A. nitrosoreducens' encodes a prospective fumarate addition pathway for anaerobic ethane oxidation and a complete denitrification pathway for nitrite reduction to nitrogen. These findings advance our understanding of nitrite-driven anaerobic ethane oxidation, highlighting the previously overlooked impact of anaerobic ethane oxidation in natural ecosystems.
format Article
id doaj-art-c5a816c0830c46be93af115e708e0ffd
institution OA Journals
issn 2666-4984
language English
publishDate 2024-09-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Environmental Science and Ecotechnology
spelling doaj-art-c5a816c0830c46be93af115e708e0ffd2025-08-20T01:54:46ZengElsevierEnvironmental Science and Ecotechnology2666-49842024-09-012110043810.1016/j.ese.2024.100438Nitrite-driven anaerobic ethane oxidationCheng-Cheng Dang0Yin-Zhu Jin1Xin Tan2Wen-Bo Nie3Yang Lu4Bing-Feng Liu5De-Feng Xing6Nan-Qi Ren7Guo-Jun Xie8State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150090, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150090, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150090, ChinaKey Laboratory of the Three Gorges Region's Eco-Environment, Ministry of Education, College of Environment and Ecology, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, ChinaWater Innovation and Smart Environment Laboratory, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, 4001, AustraliaState Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150090, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150090, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150090, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150090, China; Corresponding author.Ethane, the second most abundant gaseous hydrocarbon in vast anoxic environments, is an overlooked greenhouse gas. Microbial anaerobic oxidation of ethane can be driven by available electron acceptors such as sulfate and nitrate. However, despite nitrite being a more thermodynamically feasible electron acceptor than sulfate or nitrate, little is known about nitrite-driven anaerobic ethane oxidation. In this study, a microbial culture capable of nitrite-driven anaerobic ethane oxidation was enriched through the long-term operation of a nitrite-and-ethane-fed bioreactor. During continuous operation, the nitrite removal rate and the theoretical ethane oxidation rate remained stable at approximately 25.0 mg NO2–N L−1 d−1 and 11.48 mg C2H6 L−1 d−1, respectively. Batch tests demonstrated that ethane is essential for nitrite removal in this microbial culture. Metabolic function analysis revealed that a species affiliated with a novel genus within the family Rhodocyclaceae, designated as 'Candidatus Alkanivoras nitrosoreducens', may perform the nitrite-driven anaerobic ethane oxidation. In the proposed metabolic model, despite the absence of known genes for ethane conversion to ethyl-succinate and succinate-CoA ligase, 'Ca. A. nitrosoreducens' encodes a prospective fumarate addition pathway for anaerobic ethane oxidation and a complete denitrification pathway for nitrite reduction to nitrogen. These findings advance our understanding of nitrite-driven anaerobic ethane oxidation, highlighting the previously overlooked impact of anaerobic ethane oxidation in natural ecosystems.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666498424000528Anaerobic ethane oxidationDenitrificationMicrobial cultureFumarate addition pathwayGreenhouse gas
spellingShingle Cheng-Cheng Dang
Yin-Zhu Jin
Xin Tan
Wen-Bo Nie
Yang Lu
Bing-Feng Liu
De-Feng Xing
Nan-Qi Ren
Guo-Jun Xie
Nitrite-driven anaerobic ethane oxidation
Environmental Science and Ecotechnology
Anaerobic ethane oxidation
Denitrification
Microbial culture
Fumarate addition pathway
Greenhouse gas
title Nitrite-driven anaerobic ethane oxidation
title_full Nitrite-driven anaerobic ethane oxidation
title_fullStr Nitrite-driven anaerobic ethane oxidation
title_full_unstemmed Nitrite-driven anaerobic ethane oxidation
title_short Nitrite-driven anaerobic ethane oxidation
title_sort nitrite driven anaerobic ethane oxidation
topic Anaerobic ethane oxidation
Denitrification
Microbial culture
Fumarate addition pathway
Greenhouse gas
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666498424000528
work_keys_str_mv AT chengchengdang nitritedrivenanaerobicethaneoxidation
AT yinzhujin nitritedrivenanaerobicethaneoxidation
AT xintan nitritedrivenanaerobicethaneoxidation
AT wenbonie nitritedrivenanaerobicethaneoxidation
AT yanglu nitritedrivenanaerobicethaneoxidation
AT bingfengliu nitritedrivenanaerobicethaneoxidation
AT defengxing nitritedrivenanaerobicethaneoxidation
AT nanqiren nitritedrivenanaerobicethaneoxidation
AT guojunxie nitritedrivenanaerobicethaneoxidation