Preprint from our lab

We discovered that Baltic Sea consortia rich in Geobacter and Methanosarcina carried out syntrophic acetate oxidation (SAO) mediated by conductive particles. 

It’s a really exciting finding not only because it is of importance to our understanding of the iron the methane cycles but also because:

1. it raises questions how anthropogenic discharge of conductive particles (from agriculture, forestry etc) affects methane emissions
2. it can explain the presence of electrogens like Geobacter in the methanogenic zone
3. it can explain isotope ratios characteristic of CO2 reductive methanogenesis in deep sediment layers where Methanosarcina (an acetoclastic methanogen) is abundant
4. it is the first detailed description of a conductive particle-mediated SAO in consortia from sediments
5. it is the first NanoSIMS description of a Geobacter-Methanosarcina consortium

We enjoyed doing the work and hope the scientific community will receive it with excitement.