Biological methane oxidation proceeds either through aerobic or anaerobic pathways. The newly discovered bacterium Candidatus ‘Methylomirabilis oxyfera’ challenges this dichotomy. This bacterium performs anaerobic methane oxidation coupled to denitrification, but does so in a peculiar way. Instead of scavenging oxygen from the environment, like the aerobic methanotrophs, or driving methane oxidation by reverse methanogenesis, like the methanogenic archaea in sulfate-reducing systems, it produces its own supply of oxygen by metabolizing nitrite via nitric oxide into oxygen and dinitrogen gas. The intracellularly produced oxygen is then used for the oxidation of methane by the classical aerobic methane oxidation pathway involving methane mono-oxygenase. The present mini-review summarizes the current knowledge about this process and the micro-organism responsible for it.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
February 2011
-
Cover Image
Cover Image
- PDF Icon PDF LinkFront Matter
- PDF Icon PDF LinkTable of Contents
Conference Article|
January 19 2011
A new intra-aerobic metabolism in the nitrite-dependent anaerobic methane-oxidizing bacterium Candidatus ‘Methylomirabilis oxyfera’
Ming L. Wu;
Ming L. Wu
1
*Department of Microbiology, Radboud University Nijmegen, Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (email m.wu@science.ru.nl).
Search for other works by this author on:
Katharina F. Ettwig;
Katharina F. Ettwig
*Department of Microbiology, Radboud University Nijmegen, Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Search for other works by this author on:
Mike S.M. Jetten;
Mike S.M. Jetten
*Department of Microbiology, Radboud University Nijmegen, Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands
†Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, Julianalaan 67, 2628 BC Delft, The Netherlands
Search for other works by this author on:
Marc Strous;
Marc Strous
‡MPI for Marine Microbiology, Celsiusstrasse 1 D-28359, Bremen, Germany
§Centre for Biotechnology, University of Bielefeld, Postfach 10 01 31, D-33501 Bielefeld, Germany
Search for other works by this author on:
Jan T. Keltjens;
Jan T. Keltjens
*Department of Microbiology, Radboud University Nijmegen, Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Search for other works by this author on:
Laura van Niftrik
Laura van Niftrik
*Department of Microbiology, Radboud University Nijmegen, Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Search for other works by this author on:
Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
September 14 2010
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2011 Biochemical Society
2011
Biochem Soc Trans (2011) 39 (1): 243–248.
Article history
Received:
September 14 2010
Citation
Ming L. Wu, Katharina F. Ettwig, Mike S.M. Jetten, Marc Strous, Jan T. Keltjens, Laura van Niftrik; A new intra-aerobic metabolism in the nitrite-dependent anaerobic methane-oxidizing bacterium Candidatus ‘Methylomirabilis oxyfera’. Biochem Soc Trans 1 February 2011; 39 (1): 243–248. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST0390243
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Sign in to your personal account
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.
Captcha Validation Error. Please try again.