Methanomethylovorans are the dominant dimethylsulfide-degrading methanogens in gravel and sandy riverbed sediments

Rivers are important for global methane emissions as they are estimated to emit ~27.9 Tg of methane per year, despite accounting for only 0.58% of the Earth's surface. Yet, studies on riverine methane production pathways and their responsible microbial populations are limited. The goals of the study was to test whether dimethylsulfide (DMS) could be an important methane precursor in river sediments and to test whether grain size and permeability affects the DMS-degrading methanogen populations.