Journal
FEMS MICROBIOLOGY ECOLOGY
Volume 95, Issue 9, Pages -Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1093/femsec/fiz125
Keywords
methanotroph; thermophile; geothermal; methane; methane monooxygenase; thermoadaptation
Categories
Funding
- GNS Science New Zealand's Geothermal Future research programme
- Royal Society of New Zealand [GNS1601]
- Freemasons New Zealand Postgraduate Scholarship
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Methane is a potent greenhouse gas responsible for 20-30% of global climate change effects. The global methane budget is similar to 500-600 Tg y(-1), with the majority of methane produced via microbial processes, including anthropogenic-mediated sources such as ruminant animals, rice fields, sewage treatment facilities and landfills. It is estimated that microbially mediated methane oxidation (methanotrophy) consumes >50% of global methane flux each year. Methanotrophy research has primarily focused on mesophilic methanotrophic representatives and cooler environments such as freshwater, wetlands or marine habitats from which they are sourced. Nevertheless, geothermal emissions of geological methane, produced from magma and lithosphere degassing micro-seepages, mud volcanoes and other geological sources, contribute an estimated 33-75 Tg y(-1) to the global methane budget. The aim of this review is to summarise current literature pertaining to the activity of thermophilic and thermotolerant methanotrophs, both proteobacterial (Methylocaldum, Methylococcus, Methylothermus) and verrucomicrobial (Methylacidiphilum). We assert, on the basis of recently reported molecular and geochemical data, that geothermal ecosystems host hitherto unidentified species capable of methane oxidation at higher temperatures.
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