The methane-driven interaction network in terrestrial methane hotspots.

We demonstrated that site-specific environmental parameters more strongly shaped the co-occurrence of bacterial taxa than substrate availability. Given that members of the interactome without the capacity to oxidize methane can exert interaction-induced effects on community function, understanding the co-occurrence pattern of the methane-driven interaction network is key to elucidating community function, which goes beyond relating activity to community composition, abundances, and diversity. More generally, we provide a methodological strategy that substantiates the ecological linkages between potentially interacting microorganisms with broad applications to elucidate the role of microbial interaction in community function.