Methane oxidation by aerobic and anaerobic methanotrophic microorganisms in marine anoxic sediments

Methane oxidation by aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms has a significant impact on the mitigation of methane emission. However, the distribution of key players of the process in marine sediments remains not fully understood. Here we demonstrate stable isotope labelling of 16S rRNA transcripts and lipid biomarkers in anoxic sediments collected from a gas hydrate area to illuminate the microbial species actively performing aerobic and anaerobic methane oxidation.