Cyanobacteria as a source of hydrogen for methane formation

In a study during the 1970s co-variation of nitrogenase activity and methane formation associated with Sphagnum riparium was observed. This was suggested as evidence for a possible mechanism of hydrogen transfer from cyanobacteria to methanogens. We show experimentally that such a pathway is feasible. In a series of laboratory experiments, using a hydrogenase deficient strain of the heterocystous cyanobacterium Nostoc punctiforme and the hydrogenotrophic methanogen Methanospirillum hungateii in co-cultures, increasing light intensities resulted in elevated nitrogenase activity and methane production. The increase in methane production can be directly deduced from the nitrogenase activity of the N. punctiforme based on hydrogen balance calculations. These experimental results clearly suggest the possible existence of a novel photosynthetically regulated pathway for methane formation.