title: Biological Methanol Production by a Type II Methanotroph Methylocystis bryophila.
abstract: Methane (CH₄) is the most abundant component in natural gas. To reduce its harmful environmental effect as a greenhouse gas, CH₄ can be utilized as a low-cost feed for the synthesis of methanol by methanotrophs. In this study, several methanotrophs were examined for their ability to produce methanol from CH₄; including Methylocella silvestris, Methylocystis bryophila, Methyloferula stellata, and Methylomonas methanica. Among these methanotrophs, M. bryophila exhibited the highest methanol production. The optimum process parameters aided in significant enhancement of methanol production up to 4.63 mM. Maximum methanol production was observed at pH 6.8, 30°C, 175 rpm, 100 mM phosphate buffer, 50 mM MgCl₂ as a methanol dehydrogenase inhibitor, 50% CH₄ concentration, 24 h of incubation, and 9 mg of dry cell mass ml(-1) inoculum load, respectively. Optimization of the process parameters, screening of methanol dehydrogenase inhibitors, and supplementation with formate resulted in significant improvements in methanol production using M. bryophila. This report suggests, for the first time, the potential of using M. bryophila for industrial methanol production from CH₄.
authors.affiliation: Institute of SK-KU Biomaterials, Seoul 05029, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sanjay K S
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Primata
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mardina
authors.affiliation: BioNgene Co., Ltd, Seoul 03069, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sang-Yong
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jung-Kul
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Institute of SK-KU Biomaterials, Seoul 05029, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: In-Won
authors.initials: IW
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D001688:Biological Products; D003470:Culture Media / Q000737:chemistry; D005561:Formates / Q000494:pharmacology; D007218:Industrial Microbiology; D000432:Methanol / Q000378:metabolism*; D042083:Methylocystaceae / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D012988:Soil Microbiology
chemical_list: D001688:Biological Products; D003470:Culture Media; D005561:Formates; C030544:formic acid; D000432:Methanol
keywords: Biogas; Methylocystis bryophila; greenhouse gases; methane; methanol production