Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Journal

Phosphonates are organophosphorus compounds recalcitrant to degradation. The Carbon - Phosphorus lyase pathway allows certain microbes to make use of such compounds, releasing a hydrocarbon in the process. This process is shown when methane derives from methylphosphonate consumption. Methane liberation from methylphosphonate facilitated by microbial activity has been shown to occur in the oxygen-rich surface ocean around the world. It may provide these bacteria a phosphorus source used to support growth when phosphate is limited. This project tested the hypothesis that the cyanobacteria Trichodesmium in wild populations in the Gulf of Mexico and lab cultures use methylphosphonate when phosphate concentrations are low, releasing methane as a byproduct.