Research group "Methanotrophic Bacteria and Environmental Genomics/Transcriptomics", Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Karl-von-Frisch-Str. 10, D-35043, Marburg, Germany.
Biol Chem. 2020 Nov 26;401(12):1469-1477. doi: 10.1515/hsz-2020-0200.
Aerobic methane-oxidizing bacteria, or methanotrophs, play a crucial role in the global methane cycle. Their methane oxidation activity in various environmental settings has a great mitigation effect on global climate change. Alphaproteobacterial methanotrophs were among the first to be taxonomically characterized, nowadays unified in the Methylocystaceae and Beijerinckiaceae families. Originally thought to have an obligate growth requirement for methane and related one-carbon compounds as a source of carbon and energy, it was later shown that various alphaproteobacterial methanotrophs are facultative, able to grow on multi-carbon compounds such as acetate. Most recently, we expanded our knowledge of the metabolic versatility of alphaproteobacterial methanotrophs. We showed that Methylocystis sp. strain SC2 has the capacity for mixotrophic growth on H2 and CH4. This mini-review will summarize the change in perception from the long-held paradigm of obligate methanotrophy to today's recognition of alphaproteobacterial methanotrophs as having both facultative and mixotrophic capabilities.
好氧产甲烷菌，或甲烷营养菌，在全球甲烷循环中起着至关重要的作用。它们在各种环境条件下的甲烷氧化活性对全球气候变化有很大的缓解作用。α-变形菌甲烷营养菌是最早被分类特征描述的，现在统一在甲基球菌科和贝日阿克氏菌科中。最初认为它们的生长需要甲烷和相关的一碳化合物作为碳和能源的来源，但后来表明，各种α-变形菌甲烷营养菌是兼性的，能够在醋酸盐等多碳化合物上生长。最近，我们扩展了对α-变形菌甲烷营养菌代谢多功能性的认识。我们表明，甲基球菌株 SC2 有能力在 H2 和 CH4 上进行混合营养生长。这篇小型综述将总结从长期以来的专性甲烷营养观念到今天认识到α-变形菌甲烷营养菌既有兼性又有混合营养能力的观念转变。
