In this model, methane oxidation and sulfate respiration to elemental sulfur (or all the way to sulfide) is performed by the methanotrophic archaea (ANME). The associated bacteria (DSS) are disproportionators (sulfur fermentors), which take up produced elemental sulfur in the form of disulfide and turn it into sulfate and sulfide. Dark circles represent iron- and phosphorus-rich precipitates found in the bacteria. Credit: © Jana Milucka, MPI f. Marine Microbiology