Bacteria produce oxygen even without light

Dutch researchers from the University of Nijmegen have discovered **bacteria** that oxidize the methane without **oxygen**. Instead, these bacteria used **nitrite**, commonly available in freshwater sediments in agricultural areas. **Methane** is a very stable molecule and its degradation was generally believed to be impossible without oxygen (or sulfate). Now an international team from the Netherlands, France and Germany has shown that the bacteria actually do use oxygen for methane oxidation. They produce this oxygen themselves, like plants - only without light. The oxygen is manufactured from the nitrite. Until now, scientists believed that the art of making oxygen was restricted to plants, algae and cyanobacteria. Now it looks as if the researchers are on the track of a mechanism which may have existed before green plants first appeared on earth. More on "mpg.de":[ http://www.mpg.de/english/illustrationsDocumentation/documentation/pressReleases/2010/pressRelease201003241/index.html]

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