Co-occurrence of nitrite-dependent anaerobic methane oxidizing and anaerobic ammonia oxidizing bacteria in two Qinghai-Tibetan saline lakes

Nitrite-dependent anaerobic methane-oxidizing (n-damo) bacteria and anaerobic ammonia oxidizing (anammox) bacteria are two groups of microorganisms involved in global carbon and nitrogen cycling. In order to test whether the n-damo and anammox bacteria co-occur in natural saline environments, the DNA and cDNA samples obtained from the surficial sediments of two saline lakes (with salinity of 32 and 84 g/L, respectively) on the Tibetan Plateau were PCR-amplified with the use of anammox- and n-damo-specific primer sets, followed by clone library construction and phylogenetic analysis. DNA and cDNA-based clones affiliated with n-damo and anammox bacteria were successfully retrieved from the two samples, indicating that these two groups of bacteria can co-occur in natural saline environments with salinity as high as 84 g/L. Our finding has great implications for our understanding of the global carbon and nitrogen cycle in nature.