厌氧微生物,厌氧微生物互作 z-bio 2025-02-18 313

　　Methanol producing bacteria and methyl methanogenic archaea degrade formic acid to produce methane through interspecific methanol transfer and interaction.

　　A Microscopic photograph of co culture of methanol producing bacteria and methyl methanogenic archaea. Ruler=1 µ m; b. When bacteria and archaea are co cultured, methanol producing bacteria convert formic acid into methanol, which is then utilized by archaea to convert methane; c. Schematic diagram of four modes of methane production through bacterial archaeal interactions.

　　Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China projects (approval numbers: 92351301, 32325002), the research team led by Dr. Cheng Lei from the Chengdu Biogas Science Research Institute of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has made breakthroughs in the field of microbial interaction mechanisms for greenhouse gas methane formation, in collaboration with multiple institutions such as the National Oceanic Research and Development Agency, Hokkaido University, Japan's Institute of Industrial Technology, and Peking University. The achievement, titled "Methanol transfer supports metabolic synthesis between bacteria and archaea", was published online in the journal Nature on January 30, 2025. Paper link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08491-w .

　　Anaerobic degradation of organic matter to produce methane is not only an important component of carbon biogeochemical cycles, but also one of the main sources of atmospheric methane emissions, closely related to global climate change and the development of renewable energy sources. This metabolic process usually requires cooperation between bacteria and methanogenic archaea to complete. Previous studies have suggested that this collaboration is achieved through three modes: interspecific hydrogen transfer, interspecific formic acid transfer, and interspecific direct electron transfer between bacteria and methanogenic archaea. This close symbiotic relationship between anaerobic bacteria and methanogenic archaea is known as "mutualistic metabolism". At present, only the hydrogenotrophic and acetotrophic methanogenic archaea groups have been found to be involved in this interconversion metabolism, while it is unclear whether the methanogenic archaea of the methyltrophic type are involved in the interconversion degradation of organic matter for methane production.

　　The research team proposed a potential metabolic reaction for the generation of bio methanol, and through thermodynamic analysis, artificial construction of synthetic bacterial communities, isotope tracing, and other techniques, found that the binary synthetic bacterial community constructed by the team's independently isolated new family bacterial species Zhaonella formalicivorans and new family archaeal species Methemicoccus shengliensis can achieve anaerobic oxidation of formic acid to produce methane through interspecific methanol transfer, thus proposing a fourth mode of bacteria archaeal interaction for methane production - interspecific methanol transfer. The research team further identified a new pathway for methanol production mediated by the glycine serine cycle by combining genome, transcriptome, and intermediate metabolite analysis.

　　This study has discovered a new mode of methane production through microbial interactions, expanding our understanding of carbon biogeochemical cycles in the deep biosphere and providing new scientific basis for China to achieve carbon neutrality goals, develop underground biogas projects, and develop new technologies for carbon reduction. The journal Nature also issued a research brief titled "Underground bacteria serve alcohol to methane making microorganisms" for this study（ https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-00199-9 ）.