Agarose-Based Model Ecosystem for Cultivating Methanotrophs in a Methane-Oxygen Counter Gradient.

Aerobic methane-oxidizing bacteria, known as methanotrophs, serve important roles in biogeochemical cycling. Methanotrophs occupy a specific environmental niche within methane-oxygen counter gradients found in soils and sediments, which influences their behavior on an individual and community level. However, conventional methods to study the physiology of these greenhouse gas-mitigating microorganisms often use homogeneous planktonic cultures, which do not accurately represent the spatial and chemical gradients found in the environment.

Methane-oxidizing bacterial community dynamics in sub-alpine forest soil.

Unlabelled: Microbial activities in sub-alpine forest soil influence global cycling of the potent greenhouse gas methane. Understanding the dynamics of methane-oxidizing bacterial communities, particularly the roles of potentially active versus total microbial populations, is necessary for reducing uncertainty in global methane budget estimates. However, our understanding of the factors influencing methane cycling in forest soils is limited by our lack of knowledge about the biology of the microbes involved and how these communities are shaped by their environment.

Linking methanotroph phenotypes to genotypes using a simple spatially resolved model ecosystem.

Connecting genes to phenotypic traits in bacteria is often challenging because of a lack of environmental context in laboratory settings. Laboratory-based model ecosystems offer a means to better account for environmental conditions compared with standard planktonic cultures and can help link genotypes and phenotypes. Here, we present a simple, cost-effective, laboratory-based model ecosystem to study aerobic methane-oxidizing bacteria (methanotrophs) within the methane-oxygen counter gradient typically found in the natural environment of these organisms.