Probing the diversity of chloromethane-degrading bacteria by comparative genomics and isotopic fractionation.

ABSTRACT: Chloromethane (CH3Cl) is produced on earth by a variety of abiotic and biological processes. It is the most important halogenated trace gas in the atmosphere, where it contributes to ozone destruction. Current estimates of the global CH3Cl budget are uncertain and suggest that microorganisms might play a more important role in degrading atmospheric CH3Cl than previously thought. Its degradation by bacteria has been demonstrated in marine, terrestrial, and phyllospheric environments. Improving our knowledge of these degradation processes and their magnitude is thus highly relevant for a better understanding of the global budget of CH3Cl. The cmu pathway, for chloromethane utilisation, is the only microbial pathway for CH3Cl degradation elucidated so far, and was characterized in detail in a

SUBMITTER: Nadalig T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4197683 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature