Work

Aerobic bacterial methane synthesis

Year: 2021

Type: article

Abstract: Significance Observations summarized herein contribute to an ongoing paradigm shift in microbial ecology, documenting an emergent property of ecosystem function that further challenges the perception that biogenic methane (CH 4 ) production is strictly an anaerobic process. Relevant metabolites, a model bacterial isolate, gene, and enzyme are identified, and we show how this property can conceivably be broadly distributed in the biosphere and contribute to global CH 4 emissions. Scientifically, this study will enable lines of investigation that will expand our understanding of CH 4 synthesis and emission in nature and illustrates how CH 4 synthesis may actually serve as a nexus for the C and N cycles in nature.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2019229118