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Deep-sea secrets of butane metabolism

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Anaerobic microbes have been found to break down the hydrocarbon butane by a pathway with some similarities to anaerobic methane breakdown. Harnessing the butane pathway might enable biofuel generation. See Article p.396

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Figure 1: Proposed pathway for butane breakdown.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stephen W. Ragsdale is in the Department of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.,

    Stephen W. Ragsdale

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  1. Stephen W. Ragsdale
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Correspondence to Stephen W. Ragsdale.

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Ragsdale, S. Deep-sea secrets of butane metabolism. Nature 539, 367–368 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/539367a

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