The short-chain volatile alkanes ethane, propane, and butane are major components of natural gas. Released from deep-seated subsurface reservoirs through natural seepage or gas extraction, they percolate through anoxic and oxic environments before reaching the atmosphere, where they contribute to tropospheric chemistry and act as greenhouse gases. While their aerobic biological oxidation is well established, their fate in anoxic environments has only recently come into focus. Here we review their oxidation in anoxic settings – from subsurface reservoirs and deep-sea seep sediments to terrestrial hot springs and wastewater treatment plants. We discuss the phylogenetic diversity, biochemical mechanisms, and physiology of microorganisms mediating anaerobic oxidation of volatile alkanes, including nitrate- and sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and the recently discovered alkane-oxidizing archaea. We also highlight advances in diagnostic tools, such as stable isotope analyses and single-cell chemical imaging. Finally, we outline major unresolved research questions, including the unique biochemistry of anaerobes and the extent to which they act as natural biofilters by reducing atmospheric emissions of volatile alkanes.

YouTube video by Evolution Meetings

Long-time Current Biology advisory board member, Joseph Heitman, introduces this special issue on ‘The Fungi’.

The construction and high-precision fitness profiling of a C. neoformans knockout library reveals a high-resolution functional map of its genome and allowed for the identification of fungal analogs of...

We identify specific neuropeptides mediating worker division of labor in the leafcutting ant A. cephalotes, finding two neuropeptides associated with characteristic behaviors of leafcutting and of brood care. This work underscores the essential function of neuropeptides in establishing complex ant social behavior and remarkable plasticity among individual behavioral types.

Recombination-aware evolutionary analyses of the entire genomes of SARS-CoV-1-like and SARS-CoV-2-like viruses indicate that SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 descend from bat coronaviruses that circulated as recently as one to six years before their respective dates of human emergence. These inferred virus ancestors likely needed to travel faster than closely related bat viruses in order to reach their respective sites of emergence.

9-11 June 2025