Verrucomicrobial methanotrophs grow on diverse C3 compounds and use a homolog of particulate methane monooxygenase to oxidize acetone.

ABSTRACT: Short-chain alkanes (SCA; C2-C4) emitted from geological sources contribute to photochemical pollution and ozone production in the atmosphere. Microorganisms that oxidize SCA and thereby mitigate their release from geothermal environments have rarely been studied. In this study, propane-oxidizing cultures could not be grown from acidic geothermal samples by enrichment on propane alone, but instead required methane addition, indicating that propane was co-oxidized by methanotrophs. "Methylacidiphilum" isolates from these enrichments did not grow on propane as a sole energy source but unexpectedly did grow on C3 compounds such as 2-propanol, acetone, and acetol. A gene cluster encoding the pathway of 2-propanol oxidation to pyruvate via acetol was upregulated during growth on 2-propanol. Sur

SUBMITTER: Awala SI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8630023 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature