Abundance and community composition of methanotrophs in a Chinese paddy soil under long-term fertilization practices

Abstract

As the second most important greenhouse gas, methane (CH ) is produced from many sources such as paddy fields. Methane-oxidizing bacteria (methanotrophs) consume CH in paddy soil and, therefore, reduce CH emission to the atmosphere. In order to estimate the contribution of paddy fields as a source of CH , it is important to monitor the effects of fertilizer applications on the shifts of soil methanotrophs, which are targets in strategies to combat global climate change. In this study, real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) based on 16S rRNA and pmoA genes, respectively, were used to analyze the soil methanotrophic abundance and communit..