NC10 is a
bacterial phylum with
candidate status, meaning its members remain uncultured to date. The difficulty in producing lab cultures may be linked to low growth rates and other limiting growth factors.[1][2][3][4]
Methylomirabilis oxyfera, a member of the NC10 phylum, is the first organism discovered to couple
methane oxidation to the reduction of
nitrite to
dinitrogen (N2).[5] This is significant for several reasons. First, there are only three other biological pathways known to produce oxygen (
photosynthesis,
chlorate respiration, and the detoxification of
reactive oxygen species). Second, anaerobic methane oxidation (AMO) coupled to nitrite reduction links the global
carbon and
nitrogen cycles, and thus denitrifying
methanotrophs in the NC10 phylum may influence methane content in the atmosphere.[1] Third, this finding opens the possibility that oxygen was available in the atmosphere prior to the evolution of
oxygenic photosynthesis and the
Great Oxidation Event,[5] which challenges certain aspects of modern theories regarding the evolution of early life on Earth.
The NC10 phylum was first proposed in 2003 on the basis of highly divergent 16S rRNA gene sequences from aquatic microbial formations in flooded caves (
Nullarbor caves, Australia).[6] The first genome insights for the phylum were published in 2010.[5] Members of the NC10 phylum have been detected in environments including the Brunssummerheide
peatlands (Limburg, Netherlands),[7] the deep stratified
Lake Zug (Central Switzerland),[8] and a paddy field with long-term fertilization (Hangzhou, China)[9]
NC10 species proposed to date include Methylomirabilis oxyfera[5] and Methylomirabilis lanthanidiphila[10]
^Ettwig, Katharina F.; Shima, Seigo; Pas‐Schoonen, Katinka T. Van De; Kahnt, Jörg; Medema, Marnix H.; Camp, Huub J. M. Op Den; Jetten, Mike S. M.; Strous, Marc (2008). "Denitrifying bacteria anaerobically oxidize methane in the absence of Archaea". Environmental Microbiology. 10 (11): 3164–3173.
doi:
10.1111/j.1462-2920.2008.01724.x.
hdl:2066/72144.
ISSN1462-2920.
PMID18721142.
^Parks, DH; Chuvochina, M; Waite, DW; Rinke, C; Skarshewski, A; Chaumeil, PA; Hugenholtz, P (November 2018). "A standardized bacterial taxonomy based on genome phylogeny substantially revises the tree of life". Nature Biotechnology. 36 (10): 996–1004.
bioRxiv10.1101/256800.
doi:
10.1038/nbt.4229.
PMID30148503.
S2CID52093100.