Metabolic Engineering of Methanotrophs for the Production of Chemicals and Fuels

Methane is a promising next-generation carbon feedstock for industrial biotechnology because it is inexpensive and abundant carbon. Biological conversion of methane to valuable products can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by methane. Recently, genetic manipulation techniques and systems biology has provided new opportunities for metabolic engineering of methanotrophs and engineered strains have been employed as potential industrial strains for methane gas fermentation. For commercialization of the production of chemicals and fuels from methane, methanotrophs need to be further engineered based on rational metabolic engineering strategy to enhance carbon conversion yield, titer, and productivity. In this chapter, recent advances on metabolic engineering of methanotrophs, including genetic tool development, strategy to enhance carbon pool for product conversion, practical example of methane bioconversion, and prospect on the engineered methanotrophic cells as a cell-factory platform are discussed.