Diverse methylotrophic methanogenic archaea cause high methane emissions from seagrass meadows.

ABSTRACT: Marine coastlines colonized by seagrasses are a net source of methane to the atmosphere. However, methane emissions from these environments are still poorly constrained, and the underlying processes and responsible microorganisms remain largely unknown. Here, we investigated methane turnover in seagrass meadows of Posidonia oceanica in the Mediterranean Sea. The underlying sediments exhibited median net fluxes of methane into the water column of ca. 106 µmol CH₄ ⋅ m^-2 ⋅ d^-1 Our data show that this methane production was sustained by methylated compounds produced by the plant, rather than by fermentation of buried organic carbon. Interestingly, methane production was maintained long after the living plant died off, likely due to the persistence of met

SUBMITTER: Schorn S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8892325 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature