Research led by Professor Martin Warren, of the School of Biosciences, has identified the biosynthetic pathway for coenzyme F430 in methylogenic bacteria. Coenzyme F430 is a cofactor for methyl-coenzyme M reductase, the enzyme involved in both biosynthesis and anaerobic oxidation of methane. It is a tetrapyrrole – structurally very similar to the red pigment found in red blood cells (haem) and the green pigment found in plants (chlorophyll) – and allows methanogenic bacteria to use carbon dioxide to produce methane.
This research is a collaboration between laboratories in Kent, Germany, Manchester and Durham. The results are now published in the journal Nature .