Methanotroph detection and bioconversion of methane to methanol by enriched microbial consortium from rice field soil

Fast depletion of fossil fuels has triggered research in gas to liquid (GTL) technologies for synthesis of green transportation fuels. Utilization of natural gas pockets located in remote areas for methanol synthesis is a viable GTL process. This study has examined potential of microbial consortium enriched from rice field soil for bioconversion of methane to methanol. The presence of Type I methanotrophs was confirmed through PCR amplification of genomic DNA from soil using mmoY1-mmoY2 primer set which is specific to Methylococcus capsulatus. Further, the methanol production profiling (without MDH inhibitors) revealed similar to 130 mM (4.16 g/L) methanol production from enriched consortium, which was close to 132.5 mM (4.24 g/L) methanol production by pure strain of Methylococcus capsulatus. The yield of methanol for enriched consortium was 78.31 % and M. capsulatus was 79.81 %. These results show that enriched consortium holds high potential for BioGTL process for methanol synthesis.