Identification of the syntrophic partners in a coculture coupling anaerobic methanol oxidation to Fe(III) reduction

Abstract

From enrichments with methanol and ferric pyrophosphate a coculture was isolated which coupled methanol oxidation to carbon dioxide with the reduction of Fe(III) to Fe(II). 16S rRNA gene analysis of the isolated syntrophic partners revealed 99.5% similarity to Clostridium sphenoides and 98.5% to Shewanella putrefaciens. Formation of Fe(II) coupled to methanol oxidation was confirmed by using strains of culture collections (C. sphenoides DSM 632 and S. putrefaciens DSM 9461). The importance of this process is discussed, also with respect to the anaerobic oxidation of methane.