A single soil microbe helps rice fields emit less methane
Jang S, Yang H, Lee S, Kim P, Yun BS
Soil Health
Rice paddies are one of the biggest human-made sources of methane, so a fertilizer tweak that feeds the right soil microbes could cut greenhouse gas emissions from a staple crop billions of people depend on.
Rice fields release a lot of methane, a gas that traps heat even more effectively than carbon dioxide. Researchers discovered that a mineral fertilizer made from furnace slag boosts a particular bacterium in the soil, and that bacterium releases substances that feed methane-eating microbes, helping them grow and consume more methane. Adding this one bacterium to soil on its own cut methane output, showing that nurturing the right microbial neighbors can make rice farming cleaner.
Key Findings
Silicate fertilizer consistently enriched Burkholderia vietnamiensis alongside methane-consuming microbes (methanotrophs) in rice rhizosphere soil.
Inoculating soil with B. vietnamiensis strain HU01 alone reproduced the fertilizer's methane-suppressing effect and increased methanotroph abundance.
Cell-free supernatants from HU01 stimulated growth of methanotrophs Methylococcus geothermalis and Methylocystis parvus via secreted, low-molecular-weight, heat-stable metabolites, with LC-MS/MS indicating the activity came from a complex metabolite mixture rather than single compounds like L-glutamate or cobalamin.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists found that a soil bacterium enriched by silicate fertilizer helps rice paddies release less methane, a potent greenhouse gas, by feeding methane-eating microbes with helpful chemicals.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Silicate fertilizer mitigates methane emissions from rice paddies by enriching Burkholderia to modulate microbial interactions.
Methane emissions from rice paddies are a major source of greenhouse gases, and silicate fertilizer (SF) derived from blast furnace slag has emerged as an environmentally friendly amendment that re...
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