Cofactor F420 tail length distribution in different environmental samples

Cofactor F₄₂₀ is an electron carrier playing a crucial role in a variety of microorganisms during redox reactions of the primary and secondary metabolism due to its low redox potential and thus arouses increasing interest. In this study, cofactor F₄₂₀ glutamyl tail length spectra in various habitats like manure, compost, soil, and digester sludge samples and their respective microbial communities were investigated using high performance liquid chromatography and an amplicon sequencing approach A previous <i>in-silico</i> study was used to identify F₄₂₀ producing microorganisms. The highest concentration of cofactor F₄₂₀ could be achieved in the horse manure, digester sludge, and mixed manure samples, which was approximately 100-fold higher than in all the other samples. The high content of the cofactor in the samples with high O₂ availability pointed to the important role of the cofactor not only in redox reactions of anaerobic but also for aerobic microorganisms and indicated its ubiquitous character. The most abundant derivate was F₄₂₀-3 comprising the largest part of the cofactor derivates in seven out of ten samples. The high abundance of F₄₂₀-3 in samples with distinct properties (e.g. O₂ and H₂O availability) showed its important role in redox reactions of the primary and secondary metabolism among prokaryotes.