Effect of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration on the activity, abundance and community composition of aerobic methanotrophs in paddy soils

The elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration (eCO2) has a great impact on soil microbial communities and their functions; however, how the activity and communities of methanotrophs respond to eCO2 in paddy ecosystem is poorly known. Here, we examined the effects of a 4-year exposure to eCO2 (EC; ambient + 200 ppm) in open top chambers on the potential activity, abundance and community composition of methanotrophs in paddy fields in Nanjing City, China. The potential activity was measured in a slurry incubation under aerobic condition, and the community composition and abundance of methanotrophs were analyzed through Illumina Miseq sequencing and quantitative PCR of pmoA genes. The results demonstrated that EC significantly increased (p