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Microbial Cycling of Greenhouse Gases and Their Impact on Climate Change

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Advances in Soil Microbiology: Recent Trends and Future Prospects

Part of the book series: Microorganisms for Sustainability ((MICRO,volume 3))

Abstract

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission from agriculture contributes significantly to the global climate change. The major greenhouse gases emitted from agriculture are methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). These two greenhouse gases have higher global warming potential than carbon dioxide (CO2). The manuscript embodies biogeochemical cycling of CH4 and N2O. Microbial pathways of methanogenesis, CH4 oxidation, nitrification, and denitrification are outlined. Information on the agricultural strategies to mitigate GHG emission from soils are discussed. The review highlights significance of low-affinity methanotrophs that can be activated by repeated enrichment of high CH4 concentration, as global climate regulators. Iron redox cycling is also linked with soil CH4 uptake as repeated Fe3+ reduction and Fe2+ oxidation decline crystalline Fe fraction that enhances CH4 consumption by stimulating pmoA gene of methanotrophs. Studies suggested alternate flooding and drying as a potential approach to mediate atmospheric CH4 uptake in flooded soil. N2O emission from soil is the outcome of both nitrification and denitrification. However, in upland soil N2O emission occurs through nitrification and through denitrification from flooded soil ecosystem. Nitrogen-fixing Rhizobium sp. also produces N2O, and these bacteria can be manipulated to mitigate N2O emission by activating N2O reductase (nosZ gene). It is concluded that apart from regular agricultural resource management strategies, there is need of genetically manipulated soil microorganisms to effectively mitigate climate change.

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Acknowledgment

This manuscript is part of the project “Greenhouse gas emission from composting systems and characterization of GHG regulating microbes.” Authors declare no conflict of interest of any type.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science (IISS), Bhopal, India

    Bharati Kollah, Ashok Kumar Patra & Santosh Ranjan Mohanty

Authors
  1. Bharati Kollah
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  2. Ashok Kumar Patra
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  3. Santosh Ranjan Mohanty
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Santosh Ranjan Mohanty .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. KIIT School of Biotechnology, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India

    Tapan Kumar Adhya

  2. Environmental & Industrial Biotechnology, The Energy & Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi, India

    Banwari Lal

  3. Environmental Microbiology Laboratory, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal, India

    Balaram Mohapatra

  4. Microbial Ecology Laboratory, National Centre for Cell Science, Pune, Maharashtra, India

    Dhiraj Paul

  5. Environmental & Industrial Biotechnology, The Energy & Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi, Delhi, India

    Subhasis Das

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Kollah, B., Patra, A.K., Mohanty, S.R. (2018). Microbial Cycling of Greenhouse Gases and Their Impact on Climate Change. In: Adhya, T., Lal, B., Mohapatra, B., Paul, D., Das, S. (eds) Advances in Soil Microbiology: Recent Trends and Future Prospects. Microorganisms for Sustainability, vol 3. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6178-3_7

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