Abstract
Aerobic methanotrophs are metabolically unique bacteria that are able to utilize methane as a sole source of energy. The selective approach to enrich methanotrophs therefore employs mineral media with methane added as a growth substrate. The composition of a mineral medium and the incubation conditions strongly determine the outcome of the enrichment procedure. Adjusting medium composition to mirror the conditions of a natural habitat is a key to isolating environmentally relevant organisms. Methane-oxidizing enrichments typically contain many non-methanotrophic bacteria growing on by-products of methanotrophs or on medium contaminants, so obtaining isolated cultures is a time-consuming process that involves repeated series of plating on solid media, dilution–extinction in liquid media, and other purification procedures. Purity tests represent an important component of the isolation procedure. Final steps include registration of growth dynamics on methane and molecular identification of isolates.
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Dedysh, S.N., Dunfield, P.F. (2014). Cultivation of Methanotrophs. In: McGenity, T., Timmis, K., Nogales , B. (eds) Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology Protocols. Springer Protocols Handbooks. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/8623_2014_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/8623_2014_14
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