Study on methane biogenesis published in Nature

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 .