PMID- 38079551 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20231216 LR - 20231224 IS - 1091-6490 (Electronic) IS - 0027-8424 (Print) IS - 0027-8424 (Linking) VI - 120 IP - 51 DP - 2023 Dec 19 TI - Microbially induced precipitation of silica by anaerobic methane-oxidizing consortia and implications for microbial fossil preservation. PG - e2302156120 LID - 10.1073/pnas.2302156120 [doi] LID - e2302156120 AB - Authigenic carbonate minerals can preserve biosignatures of microbial anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) in the rock record. It is not currently known whether the microorganisms that mediate sulfate-coupled AOM-often occurring as multicelled consortia of anaerobic methanotrophic archaea (ANME) and sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB)-are preserved as microfossils. Electron microscopy of ANME-SRB consortia in methane seep sediments has shown that these microorganisms can be associated with silicate minerals such as clays [Chen et al., Sci. Rep. 4, 1-9 (2014)], but the biogenicity of these phases, their geochemical composition, and their potential preservation in the rock record is poorly constrained. Long-term laboratory AOM enrichment cultures in sediment-free artificial seawater [Yu et al., Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 88, e02109-21 (2022)] resulted in precipitation of amorphous silicate particles (~200 nm) within clusters of exopolymer-rich AOM consortia from media undersaturated with respect to silica, suggestive of a microbially mediated process. The use of techniques like correlative fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), and nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry (nanoSIMS) on AOM consortia from methane seep authigenic carbonates and sediments further revealed that they are enveloped in a silica-rich phase similar to the mineral phase on ANME-SRB consortia in enrichment cultures. Like in cyanobacteria [Moore et al., Geology 48, 862-866 (2020)], the Si-rich phases on ANME-SRB consortia identified here may enhance their preservation as microfossils. The morphology of these silica-rich precipitates, consistent with amorphous-type clay-like spheroids formed within organic assemblages, provides an additional mineralogical signature that may assist in the search for structural remnants of microbial consortia in rocks which formed in methane-rich environments from Earth and other planetary bodies. FAU - Osorio-Rodriguez, Daniela AU - Osorio-Rodriguez D AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-6676-4124 AD - Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125. FAU - Metcalfe, Kyle S AU - Metcalfe KS AD - Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125. FAU - McGlynn, Shawn E AU - McGlynn SE AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-8199-7011 AD - Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125. AD - Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan. FAU - Yu, Hang AU - Yu H AD - Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125. AD - College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China. FAU - Dekas, Anne E AU - Dekas AE AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-9548-8413 AD - Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125. AD - Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305. FAU - Ellisman, Mark AU - Ellisman M AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-8893-8455 AD - National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research, Center for Research in Biological Systems, University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA 92093. FAU - Deerinck, Tom AU - Deerinck T AD - National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research, Center for Research in Biological Systems, University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA 92093. FAU - Aristilde, Ludmilla AU - Aristilde L AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-8566-1486 AD - Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208. FAU - Grotzinger, John P AU - Grotzinger JP AD - Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125. FAU - Orphan, Victoria J AU - Orphan VJ AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-5374-6178 AD - Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125. LA - eng GR - 1634002/National Science Foundation BIO-OCE/ GR - N/A/Simons Collaboration for the Origin of Life/ GR - N/A/CIT | Center for Environmental Microbial Interactions, California Institute of Technology (CEMI)/ GR - DE-C0020373/US DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY'S OFFICE OF SCIENCE/ GR - 3780/Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Marine Microbiology Investigator/ GR - N/A/Schlanger Ocean Drilling Fellowship/ PT - Journal Article DEP - 20231211 PL - United States TA - Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A JT - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America JID - 7505876 RN - OP0UW79H66 (Methane) RN - 7631-86-9 (Silicon Dioxide) RN - 0 (Sulfates) RN - 0 (Silicates) SB - IM MH - *Geologic Sediments/microbiology MH - *Methane MH - Anaerobiosis MH - Silicon Dioxide MH - In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence MH - Fossils MH - Archaea/genetics MH - Oxidation-Reduction MH - Sulfates MH - Silicates MH - Phylogeny MH - Microbial Consortia PMC - PMC10743459 OTO - NOTNLM OT - ANME-SRB OT - amorphous silica OT - methane seeps OT - microbial biomineralization OT - microfossils COIS- Competing interests statement:The authors declare no competing interest. EDAT- 2023/12/11 18:42 MHDA- 2023/12/17 13:19 PMCR- 2024/06/11 CRDT- 2023/12/11 15:13 PHST- 2024/06/11 00:00 [pmc-release] PHST- 2023/12/17 13:19 [medline] PHST- 2023/12/11 18:42 [pubmed] PHST- 2023/12/11 15:13 [entrez] AID - 202302156 [pii] AID - 10.1073/pnas.2302156120 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 Dec 19;120(51):e2302156120. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2302156120. Epub 2023 Dec 11.