The volatile dimethyl sulfide (DMS) is the most important biogenic sulfurous compound transferred from the oceans to the atmosphere.Its oxidation products in the atmosphere can affect environment and global climate,thus it becomes the highlight of research on weather variations.Dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP),the main precursor of DMS,is widely distributed in the ocean and produced in large amounts by ubiquitous marine phytoplankton and a few terrestrial angiosperms.A variety of DMS-producing microbes were reviewed.Six currently-reported functional genes involved in DMS production including dddD,dddL,dddP,dddQ,dddY and dddW were summarized.Functions and biochemical characteristics of its encoding proteins were described in details.The updated progress on the studies of ecological distributions of DMS-producing bacteria and functional genes in the mangrove ecosystem China was briefly introduced.