Hydrogenotrophic pathway dominates methanogenesis along the river-estuary continuum of the Yangtze River

Rivers are considered as an important source of methane (CH4) to the atmosphere, but our understanding for the methanogenic pathway in rivers and its linkage with CH4 emission is very limited. Here, we investigated the diffusive flux of CH4 and its stable carbon isotope signature (delta C-13-CH4) along the river-estuary continuum of the Yangtze River. The diffusive CH4 flux was estimated to 27.9 +/- 11.4 mu mol/m(2)/d and 36.5 +/- 24.4 mu mol/m(2)/d in wet season and dry season, respectively. The delta C-13-CH4 values were generally lower than -60 parts per thousand, with the fractionation factor (alpha(c)) higher than 1.055 and the isotope separation factor (epsilon(c)) ranged from 55 to 100. In situ microbial composition showed that hydrogenotrophic methanogens accounts for over 70% of the total reads. Moreover, the incubation test showed that the headspace CH4 concentration by adding CO2/H-2 to the sediment was orders of magnitude higher than that by adding trimethylamine and sodium acetate. These results jointly verified the river-estuary continuum is a minor CH4 source and dominated by hydrogenotrophic pathway. Based on the methanogenic pathway here and previous reported data in the same region, the historical variation of diffusive CH4 flux was calculated and results showed that CH4 emission has reduced 82.5% since the construction of Three Gorges Dam (TGD). Our study verified the dominant methanogenic pathway in river ecosystems and clarified the effect and mechanism of dam construction on riverine CH4 emission.

Automated summary

This study investigated the diffusive flux of methane (CH4) and its stable carbon isotope signature (delta C-13-CH4) in the Yangtze River. The results showed that the diffusive CH4 flux was 27.9 +/- 11.4 mu mol/m(2)/d and 36.5 +/- 24.4 mu mol/m(2)/d in wet season and dry season, respectively. The stable carbon isotope signature indicated that the river-estuary continuum is dominated by hydrogenotrophic methanogens.