anaerobic oxidation of methane

Edge evidence

• methane oxidized to sulfate METPO:2007405

  Methane oxidation is coupled to sulfate reduction in the ANME-SRB consortium.

  • DOI:10.1038/35036572 Boetius et al. described the marine ANME-SRB consortium mediating AOM.
• anaerobic oxidation of methane associated with methane biolink:associated_with

  AOM is a major biological sink for methane in anoxic sediments.

  • DOI:10.3389/fmars.2025.1609892 AOM review supports sulfate- and metal-coupled methane oxidation as a major methane sink.
• anaerobic oxidation of methane has core pathway reverse methanogenesis

  AOM proceeds via the reverse methanogenesis pathway, oxidizing methane to CO2.

  • DOI:10.3390/fermentation9070645 AOM proceeds via the reverse methanogenesis pathway: CH4 is converted to methyl-S-CoM by Mcr then oxidized to CO2.
• methyl-coenzyme M reductase (MCR) catalyzes initial step of anaerobic oxidation of methane

  MCR activates methane as the initial step of AOM (reverse methanogenesis).

  • DOI:10.1021/acs.est.3c07197 Methane activation by methyl-coenzyme M reductase (MCR) is the methane-activation step in reverse methanogenesis.
• sulfate serves as terminal electron acceptor for anaerobic oxidation of methane

  Sulfate is the terminal electron acceptor in sulfate-coupled AOM.

  • DOI:10.1371/journal.pbio.3002292 Sulfate-coupled AOM is performed by consortia of ANME in obligate syntrophic partnership with sulfate-reducing bacteria.
• direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) enables anaerobic oxidation of methane RO:0002327

  DIET via conserved ANME-to-SRB outer-membrane complexes enables sulfate-coupled AOM syntrophy.

  • DOI:10.1371/journal.pbio.3002292 Protein complexes involved in direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) from ANME to the SRB outer membrane are conserved.
• nitrate serves as terminal electron acceptor for anaerobic oxidation of methane

  Nitrate serves as terminal electron acceptor in nitrate-dependent AOM via reverse methanogenesis.

  • DOI:10.1021/acs.est.3c07197 Methane oxidation via a reverse methanogenesis pathway coupled to nitrate reduction to nitrite.
• nitrite serves as terminal electron acceptor for anaerobic oxidation of methane

  Nitrite serves as terminal electron acceptor in nitrite-dependent AOM (n-DAMO).

  • DOI:10.1021/acs.est.3c07197 Nitrite-dependent methane oxidation reduces nitrite to nitric oxide in an intra-aerobic pathway.