Bioconversion of Methane to Fumarate Using Methylotuvimicrobium alcaliphilum 20Z-3E

Bioconversion of methane into various valuable compounds is the technology of the future. In this work, the metabolically modified strain of a haloalkaliphilic obligate methanotroph Methylotuvimicrobium alcaliphilum 20Z-3E was cultivated under aerobic and microaerophilic conditions with evaluation of the yield of fumarate. Under aerobic conditions, a fumarate concentration of 0.4 g/L was achieved at 3.4 g of dry cell weight (DCW) after 32 h of cultivation. As a result of the two-stage cultivation process, when switching from O2-limited conditions to aerobic conditions, fumarate production of 5.5 g/L was obtained at 14.8 g DCW, which is currently the highest yield of the target organic product from methane using methanotrophs.