Bioconversion of methane to lactate by an obligate methanotrophic bacterium

Henard, Calvin A.; Smith, Holly; Dowe, Nancy; Kalyuzhnaya, Marina G.; Pienkos, Philip T.; Guarnieri, Michael T.

doi:10.1038/srep21585

Title: Bioconversion of methane to lactate by an obligate methanotrophic bacterium

Journal Article · Tue Feb 23 00:00:00 EST 2016 · Scientific Reports

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/srep21585· OSTI ID:1239888

Henard, Calvin A. ^[1]; Smith, Holly ^[1]; Dowe, Nancy ^[1]; Kalyuzhnaya, Marina G. ^[2]; Pienkos, Philip T. ^[1]; Guarnieri, Michael T. ^[1]

National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
San Diego State Univ., San Diego, CA (United States)

Methane is the second most abundant greenhouse gas (GHG), with nearly 60% of emissions derived from anthropogenic sources. Microbial conversion of methane to fuels and value-added chemicals offers a means to reduce GHG emissions, while also valorizing this otherwise squandered high-volume, high-energy gas. However, to date, advances in methane biocatalysis have been constrained by the low-productivity and limited genetic tractability of natural methane-consuming microbes. Here, leveraging recent identification of a novel, tractable methanotrophic bacterium, Methylomicrobium buryatense, we demonstrate microbial biocatalysis of methane to lactate, an industrial platform chemical. Heterologous overexpression of a Lactobacillus helveticus L-lactate dehydrogenase in M. buryatense resulted in an initial titer of 0.06 g lactate/L from methane. Cultivation in a 5 L continuously stirred tank bioreactor enabled production of 0.8 g lactate/L, representing a 13-fold improvement compared to the initial titer. The yields (0.05 g lactate/g methane) and productivity (0.008 g lactate/L/h) indicate the need and opportunity for future strain improvement. Additionally, real-time analysis of methane utilization implicated gas-to-liquid transfer and/or microbial methane consumption as process limitations. This work opens the door to develop an array of methanotrophic bacterial strain-engineering strategies currently employed for biocatalytic sugar upgrading to “green” chemicals and fuels.

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Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Sustainable Transportation Office. Bioenergy Technologies Office

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1239888

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5100-65849

Journal Information:: Scientific Reports, Vol. 6; Related Information: Scientific Reports; ISSN 2045-2322

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 100 works

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37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANAYLYTICAL CHEMISTRY
methane
greenhouse gas (GHG)
microbial biocatalysis
lactate
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Title: Bioconversion of methane to lactate by an obligate methanotrophic bacterium

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