Abstract
Wastewater treatment plants and other remediation facilities serve important roles, both in public health, but also as dynamic research platforms for acquiring useful resources and biomolecules for various applications. An example of this is methanotrophic bacteria within anaerobic digestion processes in wastewater treatment plants. These bacteria are an important microbial source of many products including ectoine, polyhydroxyalkanoates, and methanobactins, which are invaluable to the fields of biotechnology and biomedicine. Here we provide an overview of the methanotrophs’ unique metabolism and the biochemical pathways involved in biomolecule formation. We also discuss the potential biomedical applications of these biomolecules through creation of beneficial biocompatible products including vaccines, prosthetics, electronic devices, drug carriers, and heart stents. We highlight the links between molecular biology, public health, and environmental science in the advancement of biomedical research and industrial applications using methanotrophic bacteria in wastewater treatment systems.
Highlights
In recent years, a global movement has engaged targeting the development of alternative bio-based therapeutic products for biomedical applications in order to reduce or eliminate the adverse side effects associated with the use of non-biocompatible compounds by the human immune system [1,2]
In this review we highlight the role of methane oxidizing bacteria, namely the methanotrophs found in anerobic digestion processes of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), as a multiple high-value bioproduct generating system with diverse potential biomedical applications
There is an interplay between advances in biomedicine and biotechnology and other fields of study including microbiology, agriculture, and engineering
Summary
A global movement has engaged targeting the development of alternative bio-based therapeutic products for biomedical applications in order to reduce or eliminate the adverse side effects associated with the use of non-biocompatible compounds by the human immune system [1,2]. Each bacterial population represents important contributors for resource recovery for the production of biopolymers, catalytic enzymes, lipids, and proteins [19]. More synthetic routes for production of high-value biomolecules require cost-intensive processes and bio-refineries for realistic applications. While there are many technical challenges in the processes of optimal bacterial cultivation, biomolecule extraction, and purification from resource pools such as WWTPs, many of these challenges are offset by the large and renewable feedstock, leading to lower input costs associated with bioproduct development. In this review we highlight the role of methane oxidizing bacteria, namely the methanotrophs found in anerobic digestion processes of WWTPs, as a multiple high-value bioproduct generating system with diverse potential biomedical applications. We provide an overview of the enzymatic pathways employed by methanotrophs to generate different metabolites and demonstrate the dynamic interactions of different types of biomolecules
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