Research & Development World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE

Discovery of a New Microbe that Produces Methane in Oxygenated Soils

By The Ohio State University | March 1, 2018

Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve Credit: Jordan Angle, The Ohio State University

The Science

In a Lake Erie wetland, scientists showed that microbes produce methane in an oxygen-rich environment. This finding disproves the long-accepted idea that oxygen limits microbe’s ability to produce methane. The team performed DNA sequence analyses of samples across the wetland. They uncovered a dominant new species of methane-producing Archaea. This Archaea was also present in samples from many different oxygen-rich ecosystems.

The Impact

Existing global climate models do not take into account microbes producing methane, a greenhouse gas, in oxygenated surface soils. This study indicates current global climate models could be greatly underestimating where these microbes live. The study also sheds light on a new Archaea species. This species is probably responsible for a large fraction of methane emissions in oxygen-containing soils.

Summary

A group of scientists set out to sample microbes living in Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve, a wetland of Lake Erie, in an effort to start to piece together the broad picture of methane production. However, they made an unexpectedly important discovery when they found oxygen-rich soils containing up to 10 times more methane than non-oxygenated soils. Moreover, up to 80 percent of the net methane emissions was a result of microbial methane production in oxygenated soils. Through DNA sequencing of microbes from these soils, the research team discovered a previously uncatalogued methane-producing (methanogen) organism that belongs to the Archaea group of microbes and they named it Candidatus Methanothrix paradoxum. This microorganism not only thrives in the oxygen-rich wetland, but the researchers also found evidence of its presence at more than 100 diverse environments across the world (rice paddies, wetlands, and peatlands), suggesting that this microbe significantly contributes to methanogenesis in a wide variety of oxygen-containing habitats. The results from this study indicate global climate models have greatly underestimated the role methanogens play in global methane emissions and their effects on the climate.

Funding

This work was supported by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER) within the Department of Energy’s Office of Science (SC) Early Career Research Program award to Kelly Wrighton, including contributions from BER’s Ameriflux and Regional and Global Climate Modeling programs supported under BER, the SC Graduate Student Research Program, and the SC user facilities Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory and the Joint Genome Institute. The authors also acknowledge support from the Ohio Water Development Authority and the National Science Foundation.

Related Articles Read More >

Floating solar mats clean polluted water — and generate power
New AI model offers faster, adaptive CO₂ retrieval from satellite data
8 major R&D moves this week: Samsung invests record $24B while Porsche cuts 3,900 jobs
Ex-Google AI team launches “Generation,” an AI-driven fragrance venture
rd newsletter
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest info on technologies, trends, and strategies in Research & Development.
RD 25 Power Index

R&D World Digital Issues

Fall 2024 issue

Browse the most current issue of R&D World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading R&D magazine today.

Research & Development World
  • Subscribe to R&D World Magazine
  • Enews Sign Up
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing
  • Global Funding Forecast

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search R&D World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE