Environmental Significance of Population Diversity in Methane-Oxidizing Bacteria

甲烷氧化菌种群多样性的环境意义本项目研究了西雅图华盛顿湖沉积物中不同类型的甲烷利用菌的特性。新开发的环境基因探针将用于枚举特定种类的甲烷利用细菌，这些结果将与这些细菌循环微量气体的过程测量相关联。利用甲烷气体的细菌是自然生态系统的重要组成部分。甲烷气体是由死亡生物的自然分解产生的，这些细菌消耗这些气体，将甲烷中的碳保留在生态系统中。从水生和陆地生态系统中逸出的甲烷气体进入大气，在大气中成为一种温室气体，可能对全球变暖产生重大影响。了解利用甲烷的细菌的自然种群，以及这些细菌如何循环微量气体（如甲烷）的细节是很重要的。

ABSTRACT 97-07383 Lidstrom Environmental significance of population diversity in methane-oxidizing bacteria This project investigates different classes of methane-using bacteria to ascertain their properties in a natural ecosystem: the sediments of Lake Washington, Seattle. Newly developed environmental gene probes will be used to enumerate specific classes of methane-utilizing bacteria, and these results will be correlated with process measurements for trace gas cycling by these bacteria. Bacteria that use methane gas are important components of natural ecosystems. Methane gas is produced from the natural breakdown of dead organisms, and these bacteria consume this gas, keeping the carbon in the methane within the ecosystem. Methane gas that escapes from aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems enters the atmosphere, where it becomes a greenhouse gas with a potentially significant contribution to global warming. It is important to understand natural populations of methane-utilizing bacteria, and the details of how these bacteria cycle trace gases such as methane.