Responses of methanogen mcrA genes and their transcripts to an alternate dry/wet cycle of paddy field soil.

ABSTRACT: Intermittent drainage can substantially reduce methane emission from rice fields, but the microbial mechanisms remain poorly understood. In the present study, we determined the rates of methane production and emission, the dynamics of ferric iron and sulfate, and the abundance of methanogen mcrA genes (encoding the alpha subunit of methyl coenzyme M reductase) and their transcripts in response to alternate dry/wet cycles in paddy field soil. We found that intermittent drainage did not affect the growth of rice plants but significantly reduced the rates of both methane production and emission. The dry/wet cycles also resulted in shifts of soil redox conditions, increasing the concentrations of ferric iron and sulfate in the soil. Quantitative PCR analysis revealed that both mcrA gene copies

SUBMITTER: Ma K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3255761 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature