摘要：A total of 34 pelagic water samples from the upper-, mid-and lower-Oxygen Minimum Zones (OMZs) in the eastern Pacific Ocean were collected. Particles suspended therein were captured by 0.2 μm pore size filters to extract bulk genomic DNA for PCR amplification of the genes relevant to methane oxidation. The genes encoding particulate methane monooxygenase and its relative enzyme ammonia monooxygenase (β), pmoA and amoA (β), respectively, were amplified and analyzed. Five OMZ samples (from four sites) showed amplification of pmoA . This finding provide the bases for consideration that pelagic methane oxidation may occur in OMZs. Interestingly, one pmoA sequence was identical (based on amino acid s) to pmoA of the methanotrophic endosymbiont.
