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Title: Enhanced biological fixation of methane for microbial lipid production by recombinant Methylomicrobium buryatense

Abstract

Due to the success of shale gas development in the US, the production cost of natural gas has been reduced significantly, which in turn has made methane (CH4), the major component of natural gas, a potential alternative substrate for bioconversion processes compared with other high-price raw material sources or edible feedstocks. Therefore, exploring effective ways to use CH4 for the production of biofuels is attractive. Biological fixation of CH4 by methanotrophic bacteria capable of using CH4 as their sole carbon and energy source has obtained great attention for biofuel production from this resource. Here, a fast-growing and lipid-rich methanotroph, Methylomicrobium buryatense 5GB1 and its glycogen-knock-out mutant (AP18) were investigated for the production of lipids derived from intracellular membranes, which are key precursors for the production of green diesel. The effects of culture conditions on cell growth and lipid production were investigated in high cell density cultivation with continuous feeding of CH4 and O2. The highest dry cell weight observed was 21.4 g/L and the maximum lipid productivity observed was 45.4 mg/L/h obtained in batch cultures, which corresponds to a 2-fold enhancement in cell density and 3-fold improvement in lipid production, compared with previous reported data from cultures of 5GB1. Amore » 90% enhancement of lipid content was achieved by limiting the biosynthesis of glycogen in strain AP18. Increased CH4/O2 uptake and CO2 evaluation rates were observed in AP18 cultures suggesting that more carbon substrate and energy are needed for AP18 growth while producing lipids. The lipid produced by M. buryatense was estimated to have a cetane number of 75, which is 50% higher than biofuel standards requested by US and EU. Cell growth and lipid production were significantly influenced by culture conditions for both 5GB1 and AP18. Enhanced lipid production in terms of titer, productivity, and content was achieved under high cell density culture conditions by blocking glycogen accumulation as a carbon sink in the strain AP18. Differences observed in CH4/O2 gas uptake and CO2 evolution rates as well as cell growth and glycogen accumulation between 5GB1 and AP18 suggest changes in the metabolic network between these strains. This bioconversion process provides a promising opportunity to transform CH4 into biofuel molecules and encourages further investigation to elucidate the remarkable CH4 biofixation mechanism used by these bacteria.« less

Authors:
; ; ; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E); National Key Research and Development Program of China
OSTI Identifier:
1618723
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1440396
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-5100-71670
Journal ID: ISSN 1754-6834; 129; PII: 1128
Grant/Contract Number:  
0670-5169; AC36-08GO28308; 2017GY-146
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
Biotechnology for Biofuels
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Biotechnology for Biofuels Journal Volume: 11 Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 1754-6834
Publisher:
Springer Science + Business Media
Country of Publication:
Netherlands
Language:
English
Subject:
09 BIOMASS FUELS; 03 NATURAL GAS; methane biofixation; methanotrophic bacteria; membrane lipids; high cell density culture; bioconversion process; metabolic engineering

Citation Formats

Fei, Qiang, Puri, Aaron W., Smith, Holly, Dowe, Nancy, and Pienkos, Philip. T. Enhanced biological fixation of methane for microbial lipid production by recombinant Methylomicrobium buryatense. Netherlands: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1186/s13068-018-1128-6.
Fei, Qiang, Puri, Aaron W., Smith, Holly, Dowe, Nancy, & Pienkos, Philip. T. Enhanced biological fixation of methane for microbial lipid production by recombinant Methylomicrobium buryatense. Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13068-018-1128-6
Fei, Qiang, Puri, Aaron W., Smith, Holly, Dowe, Nancy, and Pienkos, Philip. T. Fri . "Enhanced biological fixation of methane for microbial lipid production by recombinant Methylomicrobium buryatense". Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13068-018-1128-6.
@article{osti_1618723,
title = {Enhanced biological fixation of methane for microbial lipid production by recombinant Methylomicrobium buryatense},
author = {Fei, Qiang and Puri, Aaron W. and Smith, Holly and Dowe, Nancy and Pienkos, Philip. T.},
abstractNote = {Due to the success of shale gas development in the US, the production cost of natural gas has been reduced significantly, which in turn has made methane (CH4), the major component of natural gas, a potential alternative substrate for bioconversion processes compared with other high-price raw material sources or edible feedstocks. Therefore, exploring effective ways to use CH4 for the production of biofuels is attractive. Biological fixation of CH4 by methanotrophic bacteria capable of using CH4 as their sole carbon and energy source has obtained great attention for biofuel production from this resource. Here, a fast-growing and lipid-rich methanotroph, Methylomicrobium buryatense 5GB1 and its glycogen-knock-out mutant (AP18) were investigated for the production of lipids derived from intracellular membranes, which are key precursors for the production of green diesel. The effects of culture conditions on cell growth and lipid production were investigated in high cell density cultivation with continuous feeding of CH4 and O2. The highest dry cell weight observed was 21.4 g/L and the maximum lipid productivity observed was 45.4 mg/L/h obtained in batch cultures, which corresponds to a 2-fold enhancement in cell density and 3-fold improvement in lipid production, compared with previous reported data from cultures of 5GB1. A 90% enhancement of lipid content was achieved by limiting the biosynthesis of glycogen in strain AP18. Increased CH4/O2 uptake and CO2 evaluation rates were observed in AP18 cultures suggesting that more carbon substrate and energy are needed for AP18 growth while producing lipids. The lipid produced by M. buryatense was estimated to have a cetane number of 75, which is 50% higher than biofuel standards requested by US and EU. Cell growth and lipid production were significantly influenced by culture conditions for both 5GB1 and AP18. Enhanced lipid production in terms of titer, productivity, and content was achieved under high cell density culture conditions by blocking glycogen accumulation as a carbon sink in the strain AP18. Differences observed in CH4/O2 gas uptake and CO2 evolution rates as well as cell growth and glycogen accumulation between 5GB1 and AP18 suggest changes in the metabolic network between these strains. This bioconversion process provides a promising opportunity to transform CH4 into biofuel molecules and encourages further investigation to elucidate the remarkable CH4 biofixation mechanism used by these bacteria.},
doi = {10.1186/s13068-018-1128-6},
journal = {Biotechnology for Biofuels},
number = 1,
volume = 11,
place = {Netherlands},
year = {Fri May 04 00:00:00 EDT 2018},
month = {Fri May 04 00:00:00 EDT 2018}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13068-018-1128-6

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Cited by: 22 works
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