Abstract
The low-temperature, methane-oxidizing activities and species composition of methanotrophic communities in various tundra bog soils were investigated by radioisotopic and immunofluorescent methods. Methanotrophic bacteria carried out the methane oxidation process through all horizons of seasonally thawed layers down to permafrost. The highest activity of the process has been observed in the water surface layer of overmoistured soils and in water-logged moss covers. Up to 40% of14CH4 added was converted into14CO2, bacterial biomass, and organic exometabolites. By immunofluoresecent analysis it was demonstrated that the representatives of I+X (Methylomonas, Methylobacter, andMethylococcus) and II (Methylosinus, Methylocystis) methanotrophic groups occurred simultaneously in all samples at 61.6% and 38.4%, respectively. The number of methane-oxidizing bacteria in the ecosystems studied was 0.1–22.9×106 cells per gram of soil. Methanotrophic organisms ranged from 1% to 23% of the total bacterial number.
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Vecherskaya, M.S., Galchenko, V.F., Sokolova, E.N. et al. Activity and species composition of aerobic methanotrophic communities in tundra soils. Current Microbiology 27, 181–184 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01576018
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01576018