FIGURE 2.

120 years of methanotrophy depicted in a clock-based timeline, each hour on the clock represents one decade. The most relevant findings are depicted highlighting all recognized methanotrophic groups categorized according to their phylogenetic classification. Seven major milestones in methanotrophy are included, representing the most noteworthy microbial discoveries. (1) In brown, the discovery of aerobic canonical methanotrophy in 1906. On the right, all the known genera according to phylogenetic classification are listed (based on Dedysh and Knief, 2018). (2) In yellow, the discovery of sulfate-dependent anaerobic oxidation of methane (S-dAOM). This process is performed by three defined groups of AN-aerobic ME-thanotrophic archaea (ANME) within the Euryarchaeota phylum. (3) In red, aerobic methanotrophy within the Verrucomicrobia phylum. (4) In blue, nitrate-dependent anaerobic oxidation of methane (N-dAOM) by Methylomirabilis bacteria. (5–7) In green, nitrate-, iron-, and manganese-dependent anaerobic oxidation (N-dAOM and Metal-dAOM) of methane by diverse cultured species of the Methanoperedenaceae family.