Can bacteria eat Greenhouse gas???
Good
bacteria that eats bad Greenhouse gas:
Methanotrophic bacteria, commonly called “methanotrophs,”
take copper from the environment to fix into their molecular machinery that
metabolizes methane, turning it into methanol for food. To obtain copper, many
methanotrophs secrete a chemically modified peptide called methanobactin, which
tightly binds to copper ions to pull them into the cell. Until now, the
cellular machinery that drives the formation of methanobactin has been little
understood.
These
bacteria that oxidise methane (methanotrophs) are found in soil and are
globally important in capturing methane before it enters the atmosphere, and can
also consume hydrogen gas to enhance their growth and survival.
Methanotrophs can survive in environments
when methane or oxygen are no longer available. With the ability to leech heavy
metals from the environment and digest a potent greenhouse gas, methanotrophic
bacteria pull double duty when it comes to cleaning up the environment in one
molecular gulp.
Some scientists
propose venting methane emissions through filters of these bacteria to scrub it
out of the atmosphere. Others suggest feeding leftover methane from natural gas
reserves to the bacteria so they can convert the gas into methanol — instead of
exercising the typical solution of burning it. Then, the methanol could be
stored and later used for fuel. The bacteria could also be used to dispose of
copper and other heavy metals where levels are unnaturally high, preventing
illness in humans.
Researchers have identified two
never-before-studied proteins, called MbnB and MbnC, as partially responsible
for the bacteria’s inner workings. Together, these proteins form an
iron-containing enzyme complex that converts an amino acid into two organic
chemical groups. This chemistry results in methanobactin, which recruits copper
into the cell. Scientists discovered
that these two proteins drive methanobactin production across all families of
methanobactin-producing species, including non-methanotrophs.This discovery makes it easier for researchers to study methanobactin because they can work with the proteins in test tubes rather than manipulate entire living microorganisms. It also brings the world closer to methanotrophs’ promising applications. Many people imagine using filters constructed from the bacteria to scrub methane out of the atmosphere or to help remove methane from natural gas reserves.
For more details: http://bacteriology.infectiousconferences.com/
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