Researchers from the Virginia Tech and University of California, Berkeley discovered that plants used a regulatory process to switch on photosynthesis 2.5 billion years ago when the world was devoid of oxygen.

This breakthrough opened the floodgates for new scientific grounds in the area of evolutionary biology and microbiology. Scientists can now use this information to further understand the production of natural gas and view scientific dilemmas in agriculture, health as well as climate change in a new light.

“By looking at this one mechanism that was not previously studies, we will be able to develop new basic information that potentially has broad impact on contemporary issues ranging from climate change to obesity,” said lead author and Biswarup Mukhopadhyay from the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in a press release.

Researchers studied the methane-forming archaea, a set of methane-producing microbes known as methanogens that subsist in environments devoid of oxygen. Methane is the main component of natural gas and is also a potent greenhouse gas.

Methanogens are important, particularly in carbon cycling. When plants die, a portion of their biomass get stuck in areas where oxygen is not present, i.e. the bottom of lakes. Methanogens are vital in the conversion of this residual biological material to methane, that which is then converted to carbon dioxide by other species, the by-product that is used by plants.

Understanding the process of methane production forms the bedrock of learning how to treat municipal and industrial wastes, which also plays a part in the reduction of pollution and production of methane that could be used as fuel. It makes it possible for natural gas to be produced from agricultural residues.
Our understanding of human nutrition can also be aided by this newfound information. Our large intestine is home to the organisms that enhance the breaking down of our food. Some have purpotrted that if we restrict the activity of methanogens, we may be able to relieve cases of obesity.

This study was published in the Feb. 6 issue of the The Proceedings of the National Academy.