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| Rhodopseudomonas palustris |
Kathryn Fixen and her team have recently engineered a bacterium, Rhodopseudomonas palustris, to make methane from carbon dioxide. By tweaking the enzyme nitrogenase, which normally creates ammonia, scientists have managed to make it catalyze the reaction of carbon dioxide (CO2) to methane (CH4). They then managed to modify the R. palustris bacterium to make it mass produce the engineered nitrogenase. Since this bacteria can use sunlight as a source of energy, it is easier to create a large amount of this enzyme using natural sources. This makes it both eco-friendly and efficient.
Use of methane
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Not yet perfect
The other method which would be used to make methane would be through the use of methanogens. These microorganisms naturally produce methane and can be found in many different places including the human large intestine. The only problem with them is that they require different materials such as acetate to make methane and they can’t make it without the help of other microorganisms. This means that it requires multiple steps for the reaction to happen. With the new method though, the reaction happens in one step. As well as this, it can happen in a living organism, this means that it can happen at room temperature. Another advantage to this method is that it makes it easy to tweak since there is only one main step which needs to be changed. But, even with with all of its advantages, this engineered nitrogenase is still not as efficient at transforming compounds as the natural nitrogenase. “The normal enzyme makes about two hydrogens for every [molecule of] ammonia,” Co-author Caroline Harwood said. “The altered enzyme makes a thousand hydrogens for every molecule of methane.”
The other method which would be used to make methane would be through the use of methanogens. These microorganisms naturally produce methane and can be found in many different places including the human large intestine. The only problem with them is that they require different materials such as acetate to make methane and they can’t make it without the help of other microorganisms. This means that it requires multiple steps for the reaction to happen. With the new method though, the reaction happens in one step. As well as this, it can happen in a living organism, this means that it can happen at room temperature. Another advantage to this method is that it makes it easy to tweak since there is only one main step which needs to be changed. But, even with with all of its advantages, this engineered nitrogenase is still not as efficient at transforming compounds as the natural nitrogenase. “The normal enzyme makes about two hydrogens for every [molecule of] ammonia,” Co-author Caroline Harwood said. “The altered enzyme makes a thousand hydrogens for every molecule of methane.”
The research is still going on as the scientists are attempting to find a way to increase the efficiency of the enzyme. Who knows, maybe some time in the future we will be reliant on these bacterium to create fuels for all of us to live a sustainable life.
http://faculty.college-prep.org/~bernie/sciproject/project/Kingdoms/Bacteria3/methanogens.gif
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