Methane-eating relative of tuberculosis bacteria found in Romanian cave

Speleologist Serban M. Sarbu collects samples in the cave. Image: Jean-François Flot/Sherban A. Sarbu - Bacteria living on the walls of a cave in Romania use methane as their only source of food. Researchers from Utrecht University and national and international colleagues describe the previously unknown microbes in a paper in Nature Microbiology . Knowledge about the new species might contribute to the development of new techniques that reduce the concentration of methane in the atmosphere. As the bacteria are closely related to the pathogens that cause tuberculosis and leprosy, insights from the bacteria could also support the development of new methods to fight these two diseases. Extreme environment . Inside the cave, which is located in eastern Transylvania, volcanic gases meet the Earth's atmosphere.