New to the Field?

New to Methanotrophy? The Methanotrophy Consortium recommends the following published books, reviews and papers as a starting point to access the literature.  In addition, the sections on Taxonomy and Culturing Tips are important to read.

Recommended reading list:

BOOKS

  1. Anthony, C. (1982). The biochemistry of the methylotrophs, pp. 1-41, New York, NY: Academic Press.
  2. Rosenzweig, A.C. & S.W. Ragsdale, (Eds.) Methods in Enzymology 495 (Methods in Methane Metabolism) pp 135-147.

REVIEW ARTICLES

  1. Balasubramanian R and Rosenzweig, AC (2008) Copper methanobactin: a molecule whose time has come. Current Opinion in Chemical Biology 12, 245-249.
  2. Chistoserdova, L. (2011). Modularity of methylotrophy, revisited. Environ. Microbiol. 13, 2603–2622.
  3. Culpepper, MA and Rosenzweig AC (2012) Architecture  and active site of particulate methane monooxygenase. Critical Reviews in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. 47, 483-492.
  4. Dalton, H. (2005). The Leeuwenhoek lecture the natural and unnatural history of methane-oxidizing bacteria. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. B. 360, 1207-1222.
  5. Hakemian, A. S. and Rosenzweig, A. C. (2007). The biochemistry of methane oxidation. Annu. Rev. Biochem. 76, 223-241.
  6. Hanson, R.S. & Hanson, T.E. Methanotrophic bacteria. Microbiol. Rev. 60, 439-471 (1996).
  7. Op den Camp, H.J.M., Islam, T., Stott, M.B., Harhangi, H.R., Hynes, A., Schouten, S. et al. (2009) Environmental, genomic and taxonomic perspectives on methanotrophic Verrucomicrobia. Environ Microbiol Rep 1: 293-306.
  8. Semrau, J. D., DiSpirito, A. A. and Yoon, S. (2010). Methanotrophs and copper. FEMS Microbiol. Rev. 34, 496-531
  9. Semrau, J.D., Dispirito, A.A., and Vuilleumier, S. (2011) Facultative methanotrophy: false leads, true results, and suggestions for future research. FEMS Microbiol Lett 323: 1-12.
  10. Trotsenko, Y.A and Murrell, J.C. (2008) Metabolic aspects of aerobic obligate methanotrophy.. Advances in Applied Microbiology 63, 183-229

JOURNAL ARTICLES

  1. Whittenbury, R., Phillips, K. C. and Wilkinson, J. F. (1970). Enrichment, isolation and some properties of methane-utilizing bacteria. J. Gen. Microbiol. 61, 205-218.

Methanotrophs can be difficult bacteria to maintain in pure culture.  Many do not grow well in pure culture, and grow better when contaminated. Most will not grow on natural gas in pure culture, but will grow well in a mixed culture.  By following a few straightforward procedures, it is possible to ensure that your cultures will be clean and your work will be reproducible.  In addition, many of the methanotrophs have changed their names over the years, so it is important to access the list in the Taxonomy section, to make sure you can link to the literature on specific strains, even if the names have changed.