Bacteria, methanotrophe

Although methane is created under anaerobic conditions, it can form bubbles whose buoyancy may cause them to rise and enter aerobic regions, such as unsaturated sediments above the waterlogged sediments in wetlands (Fechner-Levy and Hemond, 1996) or oxic epilimnia of lakes (Varadharajan and Hemond, 2012). The methane can then either be reoxidized by methanotrophic bacteria methanotrophs) or enter the atmosphere (see Section 4.7.2). 

Murell J.C. 2010. The aerobic methane oxidizing bacteria (Methanotrophs). In Handbook of hydrocarbon and lipid microbiology. 1953-1966. 

Strong evidence that the methanotrophic bacteria use the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway in reverse for the conversion of acetate to methane. ... 

A few of the reactions carried out by the monooxygenase system of methanotrophic bacteria are summarized in Figure 2.9, and it is on account of this that methylotrophs have received attention for their technological potential (Lidstrom and Stirling 1990). An equally wide metabolic potential has also been demonstrated for cyclohexane monooxygenase, which has been shown to accomplish two broad types of reaction one in which formally nucleophilic oxygen reacts with the substrate, and... 

FIGURE 2.9 Reactions mediated by the monooxygenase system of methanotrophic bacteria. 

TCE is not able to support the growth of a single organism, but it is susceptible to cooxidation by oxygenases elaborated by organisms dnring growth with structurally unrelated substrates. A review of methanotrophic bacteria (Hanson and Hanson 1996) contains a useful account of their application to bioremediation of TCE-contaminated sites. 

In some cases, microorganisms can transform a contaminant, but they are not able to use this compound as a source of energy or carbon. This biotransformation is often called co-metabolism. In co-metabolism, the transformation of the compound is an incidental reaction catalyzed by enzymes, which are involved in the normal microbial metabolism.33 A well-known example of co-metabolism is the degradation of (TCE) by methanotrophic bacteria, a group of bacteria that use methane as their source of carbon and energy. When metabolizing methane, methanotrophs produce the enzyme methane monooxygenase, which catalyzes the oxidation of TCE and other chlorinated aliphatics under aerobic conditions.34 In addition to methane, toluene and phenol have been used as primary substrates to stimulate the aerobic co-metabolism of chlorinated solvents. 

Fang, J. S. Barcelona, M. J. Semrau, J. D. Characterization of methanotrophic bacteria on the basis of intact phospholipid profiles. FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 2000,189, 67-72. 

Various other bacterial strains and processes have been studied by academic groups for the production of poly(3HB) or poly(3HB-co-3HV), several of which are presented here. Some methylotrophic and methanotrophic bacteria are interesting for poly(3HB) production purposes. Methanol is an inexpensive substrate and there is considerable experience in methanol fermentation techno-... 

Copper enzymes are involved in reactions with a large number of other, mostly inorganic substrates. In addition to its role in oxygen and superoxide activation described above, copper is also involved in enzymes that activate methane, nitrite and nitrous oxide. The structure of particulate methane mono-oxygenase from the methanotrophic bacteria Methylococcus capsulatus has been determined at a resolution of 2.8 A. It is a trimer with an a3P33 polypeptide arrangement. Two metal centres, modelled as mononuclear and dinuclear copper, are located in the soluble part of each P-subunit, which resembles CcOx subunit II. A third metal centre, occupied by Zn in the crystal, is located within the membrane. 

Oremland et al. [136] subsequently demonstrated that methane-oxidizing bacteria also had the capacity to co-oxidize methyl bromide by methane monooxygenase produced during the oxidation of methane to methanol. They also showed that methanotrophic soils that had a high capacity to oxidize methane degraded14C-labeled methyl bromide to 14C02. 

The biological classification schemes for bacteria and archaea are still being developed because of the rapid pace of new discoveries in genomics. The two most important phyla of marine bacteria are the cyanobacteria, which are photosynthetic, and the proteobacteria. The latter include some photosynthetic species, such as the purple photosynthetic bacteria and N2 fixers. Other members of this diverse phylum are the methanotrophs, nitrifiers, hydrogen, sulfur and iron oxidizers, sulfete and sulfur reducers, and various bioluminescent species. 

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