Environmental Applications of Methanotrophs

verfasst von

Adrian Ho Kah Wye, Miye Kwon, Marcus Andreas Horn, Sukhwan Yoon

Abstract

Methanotrophs are microorganisms that are able to utilize methane as the electron donor and carbon source. For long, methanotrophs have been widely studied for their application in environmental biotechnology , due mainly to the exclusive ownership of the unique enzymes that mediate oxidation of methane to methanol , namely the particulate methane monooxygenases (pMMO) and soluble methane monooxygenases (sMMO) . Utilizing these methane monooxygenases , methanotrophs are capable of co-oxidizing a broad range of organic pollutants including chlorinated ethenes . Thus, methanotrophs have long been studied and utilized as biocatalysts for in situ bioremediation of soil and aquatic environments contaminated with these xenobiotic compounds . Due to the growing concerns in anthropogenically induced climate change and global warming , methanotrophs have increasingly gained attention also for greenhouse gas mitigation purposes. Active methane removal using methanotrophic biofilters of diverse configurations have proven to be effective for treatments of gases with relatively high methane concentrations, e.g., landfill gases and animal husbandry tank exhausts. Furthermore, improving the atmospheric methane sink capability of agricultural soils has been one of the foremost foci of climate-smart soil research. This chapter provides an extensive overview of scientific and engineering breakthroughs geared towards practical applications of methanotroph biotechnology in managing impending environmental problems.

Organisationseinheit(en)

Institut für Mikrobiologie

Externe Organisation(en)

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)

Typ

Beitrag in Buch/Sammelwerk

Seiten

231-255

Publikationsdatum

06.09.2019

Publikationsstatus

Veröffentlicht

Peer-reviewed

Ja

Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung

SDG 13 – Klimaschutzmaßnahmen

Elektronische Version(en)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23261-0_8 (Zugang: Geschlossen)