{"id":1909,"date":"2026-07-13T10:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T10:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bkbc.net\/index.php\/2026\/07\/13\/fuzzy-microbes-may-fuel-cows-methane-burps\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T10:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T10:30:00","slug":"fuzzy-microbes-may-fuel-cows-methane-burps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bkbc.net\/index.php\/2026\/07\/13\/fuzzy-microbes-may-fuel-cows-methane-burps\/","title":{"rendered":"Fuzzy microbes may fuel cows\u2019 methane burps"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cows belch a lot of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. But it\u2019s not their fault. Scientists have identified a new trigger for the process. It resides in some microbes that live in the cows\u2019 guts.<\/p>\n

This tiny organelle<\/a> appears to help control how much of this<\/a> greenhouse gas<\/a> the cows burp out.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
@scientificamerican<\/a> <\/p>\n

Notoriously, cows burps are rather potent \u2014 a single cow can burp out as much as 220 pounds of methane a year. And scientists just identified the special structure inside microbes in their gut that is responsible for all that methane. It\u2019s called a hydrogenobody. Read more at the \"\ud83d\udd17\" in our bio. \"\ud83d\udcdd\"\"\ud83c\udfa4\": Jackie Flynn Mogensen \"\ud83c\udfa5\": Kelso Harper \"\ud83c\udf9e\": Marta Hill \"\ud83d\udcf7\": Getty Images, Chuanqi Jiang\/Jinying He\/Che Hu\/Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Fei Xie et al.,Rumen ciliates modulate methane emissions in ruminants.Science392,eadv4244(2026).DOI:10.1126\/science.adv4244 #cows<\/a> #methane<\/a> #science<\/a> #climate<\/a> #greenhousegases<\/a><\/p>\n

\u266c original sound – Scientific American – Scientific American<\/a> <\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>

For an overview of the study described by this story, check out this brief video.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some 30 percent of methane produced by farming comes from cud-chewing animals, or ruminants. These include cattle, sheep, goats and deer.<\/p>\n

Like organs in the body, a cell\u2019s organelles perform specific roles. The new organelle was found in fuzzy, single-celled ciliates (SIL-ee-ets). These microbes belong to a group known as protozoa.<\/p>\n

Ciliates get their name from the hairlike structures \u2014 cilia \u2014 that help these cells move and sense their environment. These tiny furballs make up about one-fourth of all microbes living in the rumen. That\u2019s the first stomach of cud-chewing animals. There, these microbes help break down grass and other plants.<\/p>\n

The new organelle makes hydrogen gas. So its discoverers are calling it a hydrogenobody (Hy-droh-GEN-uh-BAH-dee). The hydrogen it spews causes still other microbes in the rumen to produce methane<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To date, ciliates haven\u2019t been studied much, says Ivan \u010cepi\u010dka. He works at Charles University in Prague in the Czech Republic. He did not take part in the new research, but does study microbes, including protozoa.<\/p>\n

Researchers in China have now cataloged DNA from ciliates found in ruminants. They\u2019ve turned up 65 species, 45 never before identified.<\/p>\n

These new species fell into three major groups. One type, Vestibuliferida, look like microscopic Koosh balls. Entodiniomorphida\u2019s cilia develop appear like a shock of hair coming out of just one part of their cell. The third type of these microbes remains an unclassified family.<\/p>\n

Tiny microbes, big impact<\/h2>\n

Some organisms that make hydrogen can prompt other microbes \u2014 archaea<\/a> (Ar-KEE-uh) \u2014 to make methane. But those hydrogen-makers usually have organelles called hydrogenosomes (Hy-droh-GEN-uh-soams). They\u2019re related to another organelle that makes energy.<\/p>\n