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Reactive oxygen species in aerobic methane formation from vegetation
David J Messenger1, Andy R McLeod, Stephen C Fry
1The Edinburgh Cell Wall Group, Institute of Molecular Plant Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, Edinburgh, UK.
None:
The first report of aerobic methane emissions from vegetation by an unknown mechanism suggested that this potential new source may make a significant contribution to global methane emissions. We recently investigated possible mechanisms and reported experiments in which UV-irradiation caused methane emissions from pectin, a major plant cell wall polysaccharide. Our findings also suggest that UV-generated reactive oxygen species (ROS) release methane from pectin. This has implications for all other, UV-independent processes which may generate ROS in or close to the plant cell wall and suggests a need to evaluate additional systems for ROS-generated methane emissions in leaves.
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