Bacillus methanolicus explained

Bacillus methanolicus is a gram positive, thermophilic, methylotrophic member of the genus Bacillus. The most well characterized strain of the species, Bacillus methanolicus MGA3, was isolated from freshwater marsh soils, and grows rapidly in cultures heated to up to 60 °C using only methanol as a carbon source.^[1] The genome of B. methanolicus MGA3 was fully sequenced in 2014, revealing a 3,337,035 bp linear chromosome and two natural plasmids, pBM19 and pBM69.^[2]

Chemical production from methanol

Researchers are currently investigating the use of B. methanolicus MGA3 for production of chemicals such as L-glutamate, L-lysine, cadaverine and gamma-aminobutyric acid from methanol.^{[1] [3] [4]}

Synthetic methylotrophy

The methylotrophic metabolism of B. methanolicus is being explored for establishing synthetic methylotrophy in other organisms. Recombinant expression of the pentose phosphate pathway from B. methanolicus in E. coli has shown promise in creating synthetically methylotrophic E. coli.^[5]

Notes and References

1. Schendel. Frederick J.. Bremmon. Craig E.. Flickinger. Michael C.. Guettler. Michael. Hanson. Richard S.. 1990-04-01. L-Lysine Production at 50 °C by Mutants of a Newly Isolated and Characterized Methylotrophic Bacillus sp.. 184329. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. en. 56. 4. 963–970. 10.1128/AEM.56.4.963-970.1990. 2111119.
2. Irla. Marta. Neshat. Armin. Winkler. Anika. Albersmeier. Andreas. Heggeset. Tonje M.B.. Brautaset. Trygve. Kalinowski. Jörn. Wendisch. Volker F.. Rückert. Christian. Complete genome sequence of Bacillus methanolicus MGA3, a thermotolerant amino acid producing methylotroph. Journal of Biotechnology. 188. 2014. 110–111. 0168-1656. 10.1016/j.jbiotec.2014.08.013. 25152427.
3. Naerdal. Ingemar. Pfeifenschneider. Johannes. Brautaset. Trygve. Wendisch. Volker F.. Methanol-based cadaverine production by genetically engineeredBacillus methanolicusstrains. Microbial Biotechnology. 8. 2. 2015. 342–350. 1751-7915. 10.1111/1751-7915.12257. 25644214. 4353347. free.
4. Irla. Marta. Nærdal. Ingemar. Brautaset. Trygve. Wendisch. Volker F.. Methanol-based γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) production by genetically engineered Bacillus methanolicus strains. Industrial Crops and Products. 106. 2017. 12–20. 0926-6690. 10.1016/j.indcrop.2016.11.050.
5. Bennett. R. Kyle. Gonzalez. Jacqueline E.. Whitaker. W. Brian. Antoniewicz. Maciek R.. Eleftherios T. Papoutsakis. Papoutsakis. Eleftherios T.. Expression of heterologous non-oxidative pentose phosphate pathway from Bacillus methanolicus and phosphoglucose isomerase deletion improves methanol assimilation and metabolite production by a synthetic Escherichia coli methylotroph. Metabolic Engineering. 45. 2018. 75–85. 1096-7176. 10.1016/j.ymben.2017.11.016. 29203223. 1411402. free.