Methane makers yield to science (BBC) {bacterium genome sequenced}

[eppur_se_muova]

By Louisa Cheung

The genetic code of an important group of methane-producing microbes has been sequenced by German scientists.
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The researchers believe the study, published by Science magazine, could lead to ways to control the microbes.

"But whether this really leads to a total reduction of methane emission in the rice paddy soil, it is very difficult to predict," says Dr Werner Liesack, from the Max-Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology.
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Rice paddies give off substantial quantities of methane, a potent greenhouse gas; and eight years ago, microbiologists identified what they believed to be the key culprit: a organism group they called Rice Cluster I (RC-I).
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5213554.stm

The focus here is on diminishing methane production in rice paddies; I would like to see how if this could be used to convert sewage and ag waste to methane more efficiently (in enclosed systems, natch).