Unique genes carried by abundant species enhance CH₄ emissions during the growing season at the Tibetan Plateau

• CH₄ emission rates followed an increased pattern during the growing season at Tibetan Plateau. • Unique genes carried by abundant species were positively correlated with CH₄ emission rates. • Climate factors influenced CH₄ emission rates by regulating microbial community and their genes. Microorganisms play pivotal roles in soil methane (CH₄) emissions and their functional genes are origins of a key mechanism for soil CH₄-cycling. However, understanding of the roles of specific genes (e.g., unique or shared genes carried by species) underlying CH₄-cycling remains elusive. Here, we measured CH₄ emission rates and investigated variations in microbial community and the abundance of genes carried by species during the growing season in alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau. We discovered that CH₄ emission rates increased from 394.4, 745.9, and 1 092.7 µg CH₄ m⁻² h⁻¹, in April, June, and August, respectively, and had a positive correlation with unique genes carried by abundant species during the growing season. Moreover, we found that unique genes carried by abundant species involved in methanogenesis processes have a higher abundance than methanotrophic processes. Further analysis indicated that climate factors (i.e., mean monthly temperature (MMT) and mean monthly precipitation (MMP)) influenced microbial community and their functional genes, and therefore affected the CH₄ emission rates. Overall, the present study provides a novel insight into the variation of soil CH₄ emissions from a functional gene perspective, highlighting the important roles of unique genes carried by abundant species in CH₄ emissions in the Tibetan Plateau under seasonal variation.[Figure not available: see fulltext.]