A New Era of Methanogenesis Research

Mark Alexander Lever

doi:10.1016/j.tim.2015.12.005

A New Era of Methanogenesis Research

Trends Microbiol. 2016 Feb;24(2):84-86. doi: 10.1016/j.tim.2015.12.005. Epub 2016 Jan 4.

Author

Mark Alexander Lever¹

Affiliation

¹ Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, Department of Environmental Systems Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. Electronic address: mark.lever@usys.ethz.ch.

PMID: 26765541
DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2015.12.005

Abstract

The reductive acetyl-CoA pathway coupled to methanogenesis is likely one of Earth's oldest metabolisms. Yet, until recently this metabolism had only been found in the kingdom Euryarchaeota. A study now suggests that distantly related Bathyarchaeota are also methanogens and that methane metabolism is more phylogenetically widespread than previously thought.

Keywords: Archaea; Bathyarchaeota; methanogenesis; methylotrophy; microbial carbon cycling; reductive acetyl-CoA pathway.

MeSH terms

Euryarchaeota / classification
Euryarchaeota / genetics
Euryarchaeota / metabolism*
Methane / metabolism*
Molecular Sequence Data
Phylogeny

Substances

Methane