The methane consuming plant

• Is it possible for plants to use methane as their sole carbon source, or does this have to be combination with CO2?

• Methane is 25 times more potent as green house gas than CO2. We hypothesize that plant metabolism can use methane as carbon source along with CO2.

• Through genetic engineering of the plants Physcomitrium patens and Nicotiana benthamiana we will enable plants to use methane as carbon source, like many bacteria do. This way plants can sequester this greenhouse gas to produce sugar and grow.