Department of Microbiology, Warwick University, Warwick, UK. Department of Microbiology, IWWR Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands.
Environ Microbiol Rep. 2009 Oct;1(5):279-84. doi: 10.1111/j.1758-2229.2009.00089.x.
This special issue highlights several recent discoveries in the microbial methane cycle, including the diversity and activity of methanotrophic bacteria in special habitats, distribution and contribution of the newly discovered Verrucomicrobia, metabolism of methane and related one-carbon compounds such as methanol and methylamine in freshwater and marine environments, methanol and methane-dependent nitrate reduction, the relationships of methane cycle microorganisms with plants and animals, and the environmental factors that regulate microbial processes of the methane cycle. These articles also highlight the plethora of new organisms and metabolism relating to the methane cycle that have been discovered in recent years and outline the many questions in the methane cycle that still need to be addressed. It is clear that despite a tremendous amount of research on the biology of the methane cycle, the microbes involved in catalysing methane production and consumption harbour many secrets that need to be disclosed in order for us to fully understand how the biogeochemical methane cycle is regulated in the environment, and for us to make future predictions about the global sources and sinks of methane and how anthropogenic changes impact on the cycling of this important greenhouse gas.
本特刊重点介绍了微生物甲烷循环中的几项最新发现，包括特殊生境中甲烷营养菌的多样性和活性、新发现的疣微菌门的分布和贡献、淡水和海洋环境中甲烷和相关一碳化合物（如甲醇和甲胺）的代谢、甲醇和甲烷依赖型硝酸盐还原、甲烷循环微生物与植物和动物的关系，以及调节微生物甲烷循环过程的环境因素。这些文章还强调了近年来发现的与甲烷循环有关的大量新的生物体和代谢途径，并概述了甲烷循环中仍需要解决的许多问题。很明显，尽管对甲烷循环的生物学进行了大量研究，但参与催化甲烷产生和消耗的微生物仍有许多秘密有待揭示，以便我们充分了解生物地球化学甲烷循环是如何在环境中受到调控的，以及我们对未来全球甲烷源汇的预测，以及人为变化如何影响这种重要温室气体的循环。
