The direct conversion of H2 (or formate) + CO2 to methane is catalysed by hydrogenotrophic methanogens. The acetate conversion to methane this website and CO2 can be performed through two alternative pathways. The first pathway, catalysed by acetoclastic methanogens (species of Methanosarcina or Methanosaeta), is a cleavage of the methyl and carboxyl groups from acetate producing methane and

CO2, respectively. The second possible pathway relies on the syntrophic association between acetate oxidizing bacteria and hydrogenotrophic methanogens: the formers convert acetate into H2 and CO2, which are then used by the hydrogenotrophic methanogens to produce methane (Schink & Stams, 2006). Regardless of the environmental conditions and of the predominance of either acetoclastic or hydrogenotrophic pathways, methanogenic Archaea, as the terminal oxidizers of the community, play a key role. As a consequence, developing new and rapid methods to elucidate the identity and diversity of methanogens would be useful for the global understanding of the complex

process of methanogenesis. The methyl-coenzyme-M reductase enzyme complex (MCR), composed of two alpha, beta and gamma subunits, catalyses methane formation and is ubiquitous in methanogens (Thauer, 1998). MCR is unique to methanogens, with the exception of the methane-oxidizing Archaea (Hallam et al., 2003). In addition, Fludarabine ic50 a few members of the Methanomicrobiales and Methanococcales also possess a type II isoenzyme see more (Mrt) (Lehmacher & Klenk, 1994). On the basis of the comparison of available 16S rRNA and mcrA gene sequences of methanogens, the mcrA gene was demonstrated to be an alternative phylogenetic marker to the 16S rRNA gene (Luton et al., 2002). T-RFLP fingerprints of the mcrA gene have been used for phylogenetic analysis of methanogen populations (Lueders et al., 2001). Our objective in this study was to develop a novel fingerprinting method that distinguishes the methanogenic groups from environmental or engineered systems that should be

less time-consuming, more cost-effective, but as informative as T-RFLP. This methodology, based on the natural length variations of the mcrA gene, originates from the work of Suzuki et al. (1998), who developed the amplicon length heterogeneity PCR method (LH-PCR) based on the natural length variation of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. In this study, the new methodology we have developed and named amplicon LH-PCR of the mcrA gene (LH-mcrA) is validated using clones from libraries from a plug flow-type bioreactor (PFBR). The PFBR consisting in eight serially linked compartments was operated at 25 °C and fed with liquid swine manure at a rate of 1–2 g chemical oxygen demand (COD) L−1 day−1 and a hydraulic retention time of 60 days, as described in Roy et al. (2009).