Metabolic engineering in methanotrophic bacteria

Journal Article · Fri May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · METABOLIC ENGINEERING

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymben.2015.03.010· OSTI ID:1211105

Kalyuzhnaya, MG; Puri, AW; Lidstrom, ME

Methane, as natural gas or biogas, is the least expensive source of carbon for (bio)chemical synthesis. Scalable biological upgrading of this simple alkane to chemicals and fuels can bring new sustainable solutions to a number of industries with large environmental footprints, such as natural gas/petroleum production, landfills, wastewater treatment, and livestock. Microbial biocatalysis with methane as a feedstock has been pursued off and on for almost a half century, with little enduring success. Today, biological engineering and systems biology provide new opportunities for metabolic system modulation and give new optimism to the concept of a methane-based bio-industry. Here we present an overview of the most recent advances pertaining to metabolic engineering of microbial methane utilization. Some ideas concerning metabolic improvements for production of acetyl-CoA and pyruvate, two main precursors for bioconversion, are presented. We also discuss main gaps in the current knowledge of aerobic methane utilization, which must be solved in order to release the full potential of methane-based biosystems. (C) 2015 International Metabolic Engineering Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)
• DOE Contract Number: 0670-5169
• OSTI ID: 1211105
• Journal Information: METABOLIC ENGINEERING, Vol. 29; ISSN 1096-7176
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English