Expanding anaerobic alkane metabolism in the domain of Archaea

Methanogenesis and anaerobic methane oxidation through methyl-coenzyme M reductase (MCR) as a key enzyme have been suggested to be basal pathways of archaea 1 . How widespread MCR-based alkane metabolism is among archaea, where it occurs and how it evolved remain elusive. Here, we performed a global survey of MCR-encoding genomes based on metagenomic data from various environments. Eleven high-quality mcr -containing metagenomic-assembled genomes were obtained belonging to the Archaeoglobi in the Euryarchaeota, Hadesarchaeota and different TACK superphylum archaea, including the Nezhaarchaeota, Korarchaeota and Verstraetearchaeota. Archaeoglobi WYZ-LMO1 and WYZ-LMO3 and Korarchaeota WYZ-LMO9 encode both the (reverse) methanogenesis and the dissimilatory sulfate reduction pathway, suggesting that they have the genomic potential to couple both pathways in individual organisms. The Hadesarchaeota WYZ-LMO4–6 and Archaeoglobi JdFR-42 encode highly divergent MCRs, enzymes that may enable them to thrive on non-methane alkanes. The occurrence of mcr genes in different archaeal phyla indicates that MCR-based alkane metabolism is common in the domain of Archaea. A metagenome-based survey of archaeal genomes encoding methyl-coenzyme M reductase (MCR)—a key enzyme for methanogenesis and anaerobic methane oxidation—reveals that MCR-based metabolism is common and diverse in archaea, and may be coupled to dissimilatory sulfate reduction in single organisms.