Access
To read this story in full you will need to login or make a payment (see right).
News and Views
Nature 440, 878-879 (13 April 2006) | doi:10.1038/440878a; Published online 12 April 2006
Open Innovation Challenges
-
Single-cell Analysis Platform
This Challenge is looking for novel approaches to analyzing changes at a single-cell level. This is...
-
Direct Molecular Detection of Proteins and Nucleic Acids
This Challenge is looking for novel approaches to protein and nucleic acid detection. This is an Id...
nature jobs
Executive- Purchase (Raw Material)- Coporate Office
- Rhydburg Pharmaceuticals
- Selaqui-Dehradun India
New Business Manager
- ResMed
- Abingdon, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
Biogeochemistry: Methane and microbes
Rudolf K. Thauer1 & Seigo Shima1
Abstract
Microorganisms can carry out a wonderful range of chemical transformations. The anaerobic oxidation of methane seemed not to be among them. But it is — both with sulphate, and now it turns out, with nitrate.
Methane is not only a fossil fuel but also a key player in the carbon cycle. About 1% of the carbon dioxide annually fixed by photosynthesis is converted back to carbon dioxide by microorganisms via methane, which amounts to 1 billion tonnes of methane formed and consumed per year.
- Rudolf K. Thauer and Seigo Shima are at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Karl-von-Frisch-Strasse, D-35043 Marburg, Germany.
Email: thauer@mpi-marburg.mpg.de
To read this story in full you will need to login or make a payment (see right).
MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS
These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.
RESEARCH
A microbial consortium couples anaerobic methane oxidation to denitrificationNature Letters to Editor (13 Apr 2006)
A conspicuous nickel protein in microbial mats that oxidize methane anaerobicallyNature Letters to Editor (18 Dec 2003)

