Novel methanotrophic and methanogenic bacterial communities from diverse ecosystems and their impact on environment

Methane oxidizing and methane releasing bacterial communities are very pioneer microbial population, abundantly present in several ecosystems. The microbial dynamics and metabolic assemblages are positively affected by these peculiar groups of bacteria, playing very important role in sustaining carbon geochemical cycle. A number of conventional methanotrophic and methanogenic communities are reported from marine and coastal environment, forest/desert ecosystem, paddy field soil, fresh water lakes, swamps and other soil ecosystems. In rice fields, both bacterial populations are complementary to each other. Methane gas is released by one community while utilized by another community through oxidation process. The present review describe novel species belonging to methanotrophic and methanogenic bacterial communities obtained through culture dependent and culture independent approach mingled with polyphasic taxonomic methods. The novel species of methanogens and methanotrophic bacterial communities have been isolated from different ecosystems and characterized for diverse biotechnological applications. To name a few, Methylobacterium phyllosphaerae sp. nov., Methanococcus aeolicus sp. nov. and Methylocella silvestris sp. nov. have been isolated from paddy field, marine environment and forest ecosystem respectively. The present review deals with biodiversity of novel species of methanogens and methanotrophs and their impact on environment. •Methanotrophic and methanogenic bacterial communities (MMBCs) plays important role in climate change mitigation.•Novel MMBCs have vital role in global C-cycling and diminishing the impact of greenhouse gases.•MMBCs are used for bioremediation of diverse environmental pollutants for environmental sustainability.