Research project Microbial genomics of greenhouse gas metabolism
Molecular SeaLab is a joint research venture between the Baltic Sea Centre at Stockholm University and the Environmental Genomics group at SciLifeLab. By combining biogeochemical, ecological, molecular and meta-omic expertise and know-how, the aim is to understand the fundamental microbial processes of coastal ecosystems.
Microbial methane production and consumption together control how much methane ultimately reaches the atmosphere. In the coastal Baltic Sea, this balance shifts across space and time due to local heterogeneity, stratified waters, and seasonal hypoxia, which together create dynamic redox gradients and alter the zones of both aerobic methane oxidation and anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM). We use genome-resolved meta-omics, coupled with activity measurements across spatial and temporal gradients, to link microbial identity and function to methane dynamics in seawater and sediments. Key questions we address are how methane-cycling microbes are distributed across environmental gradients, how they regulate their metabolism and electron donor use, and how they interact with syntrophic partners to shape methane flux in the coastal environment.