Cyanobacteria produce methane
Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, are among the most common organisms on Earth and are notorious for forming toxins. A recent study has now shown for the first time that these bacteria produce relevant amounts of methane in oceans, inland waters, and on land. In the course of climate change, increasing blue-green algae blooms will most likely amplify the release of methane into the atmosphere, according to scientists from the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) and Heidelberg University of Heidelberg who carried out the research. Until now, methane generation by living organisms without a cell nucleus has been verified only for so-called primordial bacteria, i.e. archaea, whereby - according to the assumption - methane can only be produced under strictly anoxic conditions. The results of the study refute these assumptions. The research team investigated 17 cyanobacterial species that occur in the sea, freshwater and soil. According to Dr Mina Bi¸i', a researcher at the IGB and primary author of the study, cyanobacteria in surface water are a previously unknown source of methane.
