Who eats what? Unravelling microbial conversion of coal to methane
| Autor: | Tania J. Vergara, Paul Greenfield, Kaydy Pinetown, David J. Midgley, Silas H.W. Vick, S. Sestak, Ian T. Paulsen, Se Gong, Zhongsheng Li, Sasha G. Tetu |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
0301 basic medicine
Coalbed methane Microbial Consortia 010501 environmental sciences Biology complex mixtures 01 natural sciences Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology Microbiology Methane 03 medical and health sciences chemistry.chemical_compound Species Specificity otorhinolaryngologic diseases Kerogen Coal Organic matter Microbial biodegradation 0105 earth and related environmental sciences chemistry.chemical_classification Bacteria Ecology business.industry technology industry and agriculture Coal mining respiratory system Carbon respiratory tract diseases Biodegradation Environmental 030104 developmental biology chemistry Microbial population biology Environmental chemistry business |
| Zdroj: | FEMS Microbiology Ecology. 95 |
| ISSN: | 1574-6941 |
| DOI: | 10.1093/femsec/fiz093 |
| Popis: | Microbial communities in subsurface coal seams are responsible for the conversion of coal organic matter to methane. This process has important implications for both energy production and our understanding of global carbon cycling. Despite the environmental and economic importance of this process, little is known about which components of the heterogeneous coal organic matter are biodegradable under methanogenic conditions. Similarly, little is known about which taxa in coal seams carry out the initial stages of coal organics degradation. To identify the biodegradable components of coal and the microorganisms responsible for their breakdown, a subbituminous coal was fractionated into a number of chemical compound classes which were used as the sole carbon source for growth by a coal seam microbial community. This study identifies 65 microbial taxa able to proliferate on specific coal fractions and demonstrates a surprising level of substrate specificity among members of this coal-degrading microbial consortia. Additionally, coal kerogen, the solvent-insoluble organic component of coal often considered recalcitrant to microbial degradation, appeared to be readily converted to methane by microbial degradation. These findings challenge our understanding of coal organic matter catabolism and provide insights into the catabolic roles of individual coal seam bacteria. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|