Genetic Engineering of Methanotrophs: Methods and Recent Advancements

Abstract

Methanotrophs use methane gas as their carbon and energy source, but their industrial use has not yet fully been realized due to undiscovered genetic engineering methods that could amend their slow growth rate and economically inefficient product yield. This chapter informs upon genetic engineering approaches taken on methanotrophs so far to enable their widespread use in industry, as well as the reasoning behind these interests. Specific examples of successful engineering performed so far, including conjugation and electroporation methods, CRISPR, genome-scale metabolic modeling, and specific vectors reported as successful, are presented. In addition, the reading provides insights into existing knowledge gaps in the field of methanotrophic engineering and future prospects for optimizing growth and product yield from methanotrophs.

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