title: Emission of methane from plants.
abstract: It has been proposed that plants are capable of producing methane by a novel and unidentified biochemical pathway. Emission of methane with an apparently biological origin was recorded from both whole plants and detached leaves. This was the first report of methanogenesis in an aerobic setting, and was estimated to account for 10-45 per cent of the global methane source. Here, we show that plants do not contain a known biochemical pathway to synthesize methane. However, under high UV stress conditions, there may be spontaneous breakdown of plant material, which releases methane. In addition, plants take up and transpire water containing dissolved methane, leading to the observation that methane is released. Together with a new analysis of global methane levels from satellite retrievals, we conclude that plants are not a major source of the global methane production.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QW, UK. rern2@mole.bio.cam.ac.uk
authors.forename: R E R
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Nisbet
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Nimmo
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Bendall
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Crill
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Gallego-Sala
authors.forename: E R C
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Hornibrook
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: López-Juez
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lowry
authors.forename: P B R
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Nisbet
authors.forename: E F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Shuckburgh
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sriskantharajah
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Howe
authors.forename: E G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Nisbet
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002696:Chlamydomonas / Q000378:metabolism*; D008697:Methane / Q000378:metabolism*; D010802:Phylogeny; D010944:Plants / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D008697:Methane