ArticleNature microbiology2021
Trace gas oxidizers are widespread and active members of soil microbial communities.
Article in Nature microbiology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 92 papers.
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92 citing papers in PubMed, 214 citations in OpenAlex.
- Trace gas oxidation supports sub-surface microbial communities across Namib Desert fog and aridity gradients.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2026Article
- Metagenomic insights into the taxonomic and metabolic diversity of the microbiome of Lake Karum in the Danakil Depression, Ethiopia.Environmental microbiome · 2026Article
- Thermodynamic Evaluation of Dual Substrate Growth.Biotechnology and bioengineering · 2026Article
- Ghost-rocks' microbiota: metagenomic insights into their influence on the biogeochemistry of karstic cave and groundwater.FEMS microbiology ecology · 2026Article
- Unraveling underlying mechanisms and responsible microbes of organic residue-stimulated atmospheric methane uptake in agricultural soils.FEMS microbiology ecology · 2026Article
- Atmospheric hydrogen consumption is regulated by glycerol-mediated catabolite repression in mycobacteria.mSystems · 2026Article
- Metabolic transitions along a moisture gradient in a poly-extreme high-altitude desert ecosystem within the Atacama Desert.Environmental microbiome · 2026Article
- Rice gs3 allele and low-nitrogen conditions enrich rhizosphere microbiota that mitigate methane emissions and promote beneficial crop traits.The ISME journal · 2026Article
- Search for the role of a Huc-type [NiFe]-hydrogenase of the soil thermophileFrontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Global implications of a low soil moisture threshold for microbial hydrogen uptake.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Evidence for Trace Gas Metabolism and Widespread Antibiotic Synthesis in an Abiotically Driven, Antarctic Soil Ecosystem.Environmental microbiology reports · 2025Article
- Metabolically flexible microorganisms rapidly establish glacial foreland ecosystems.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Microbial aerotrophy enables continuous primary production in diverse cave ecosystems.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Sulfur Cycling and Life Strategies in Successional Biocrusts Link to Biomass Carbon in Dryland Ecosystems.Microorganisms · 2025Article
- Expansion of aerobic methanotrophy to the phylum of Actinomycetota and its environmental implications.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2025Article
- Fenlong-ridging combined with composite modifier reconstructs soil microbiome to mitigate saline stress and enhance sustainable cultivation of Isatis indigotica Fortune.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Host-virome associations in the weathering crust of a rapidly retreating temperate Alpine glacier.Microbial genomics · 2025Article
- EcoFoldDB: Protein Structure-Guided Functional Profiling of Ecologically Relevant Microbial Traits at the Metagenome Scale.Environmental microbiology · 2025Article
- Methanogenesis and Acetogenesis in Hydrogenotrophy with Carbonate Minerals: Dependence on Mineral Surface Area, Biofilm Growth, and Microbial Community.Environmental science & technology · 2025Article
- First isolation of a methanotrophicApplied and environmental microbiology · 2025Article
32 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 7 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Soil microorganisms globally are thought to be sustained primarily by organic carbon sources. Certain bacteria also consume inorganic energy sources such as trace gases, but they are presumed to be rare community members, except within some oligotrophic soils. Here we combined metagenomic, biogeochemical and modelling approaches to determine how soil microbial communities meet energy and carbon needs. Analysis of 40 metagenomes and 757 derived genomes indicated that over 70% of soil bacterial taxa encode enzymes to consume inorganic energy sources. Bacteria from 19 phyla encoded enzymes to use the trace gases hydrogen and carbon monoxide as supplemental electron donors for aerobic respiration. In addition, we identified a fourth phylum (Gemmatimonadota) potentially capable of aerobic methanotrophy. Consistent with the metagenomic profiling, communities within soil profiles from diverse habitats rapidly oxidized hydrogen, carbon monoxide and to a lesser extent methane below atmospheric concentrations. Thermodynamic modelling indicated that the power generated by oxidation of these three gases is sufficient to meet the maintenance needs of the bacterial cells capable of consuming them. Diverse bacteria also encode enzymes to use trace gases as electron donors to support carbon fixation. Altogether, these findings indicate that trace gas oxidation confers a major selective advantage in soil ecosystems, where availability of preferred organic substrates limits microbial growth. The observation that inorganic energy sources may sustain most soil bacteria also has broad implications for understanding atmospheric chemistry and microbial biodiversity in a changing world.
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