This review synthesizes recent discoveries of novel archaea clades capable of oxidizing
higher alkanes, from volatile ones like ethane to longer-chain alkanes like hexadecane …

Alkanes are saturated apolar hydrocarbons that range from their simplest form, methane, to
high-molecular-weight compounds. Although alkanes were once considered biologically …

Methyl‐coenzyme M reductase (MCR) has been originally identified to catalyse the final step
of the methanogenesis pathway. About 20 years ago an aerobic me thane‐oxidizing …

Cold seeps and hydrothermal vents deliver large amounts of methane and other gaseous
alkanes into marine surface sediments. Consortia of archaea and partner bacteria thrive on …

Microbial anaerobic oxidation of alkanes intrigues the scientific community by way of its
impact on the global carbon cycle, and its biotechnological applications. Archaea are …

Methanogenic and methanotrophic archaea produce and consume the greenhouse gas
methane, respectively, using the reversible enzyme methyl-coenzyme M reductase (Mcr) …

Crude oil and gases in the seabed provide an important energy source for subsurface
microorganisms. We investigated the role of archaea in the anaerobic degradation of non …

Methanogenesis is an ancient metabolism of key ecological relevance, with direct impact on
the evolution of Earth's climate. Recent results suggest that the diversity of methane …

Anaerobic microorganisms play key roles in the biogeochemical cycling of methane and non-
methane alkanes. To date, there appear to be at least three proposed mechanisms of …

Methanogenesis and anaerobic methane oxidation through methyl-coenzyme M reductase
(MCR) as a key enzyme have been suggested to be basal pathways of archaea. How …