AGAMBLE - Anaerobic Growth of Aerobic Methanotrophic Bacteria in Lake Environments

Aerobic methanotrophic bacteria are often found to be active and consuming methane in anoxic lake beds, but it is currently unknown how they survive without oxygen. This project will test the hypothesis that certain methanotrophic bacteria can respire metal oxide minerals in the place of oxygen in lake beds. This hypothesis was motivated by the discovery of genes encoding iron-cycling enzymes in the genomes of methanotrophic bacteria. The project will test the growth of methanotroph bacterial isolates under anaerobic conditions and use a combination of transcriptomics and chemical inhibitors to determine the mechanism of anaerobic methane oxidation. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, and bottom-water anoxia in lakes is set to become more widespread over the course of the next century. Understanding how methane-consuming bacteria cope with anoxic conditions can help us more effectively mitigate freshwater methane emissions.