Microbial Methane Production and Oxidation

Dear Colleagues,

Methane is the second most important greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide. The global methane cycle, including methane production and methane consumption, is mostly driven by microbial processes of methanogens and methanotrophs, respectively. Knowing their metabolism and ecology is important for us to better understand their impacts on global carbon cycles and climate change.

Recent research progress has reshaped our view of methanogenesis by increasing discoveries of nontraditional novel methanogenic archaea and their syntrophic partners. In recent years, groundbreaking knowledge has also been acquired on methanotrophic processes, especially on the anaerobic oxidation of methane and anaerobic methanotrophic archaea.     

The aim of this Special Issue of Microorganisms is to present a collection of articles that provide a current snapshot of the research in the field of methane microbiology. Manuscripts covering all aspects of research relating to microbial methane production and oxidation, including fundamental questions relating to the physiology, biology, biochemistry of methanogens and methanotrophs, and the ecological dynamics and geochemical diversity of methanogenic and methanotrophic processes in natural environments are welcome. Studies on the microbial ecology of both processes in engineering systems are also welcomed.

Dr. Xueqin Zhang
Prof. Dr. Heribert Insam
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.