Simultaneous production of lipase and PHB using methanotrophic organism Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b

Abstract

Methanotrophs based processes can help in reduction of greenhouse gases generated from various anthropogenic and natural activities. Present study demonstrates versatility of methanotrophic organisms for production of natural and biodegradable material like polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) along with lipase as industrially important enzyme. Lipase A gene from Bacillus subtillis 168 was expressed in methanotroph M. trichosporium for simultaneous production of PHB and lipase. Lipase produced from methanotrophs showed enzyme activity up to 82.03 U/ mg of protein and 14.08 U/mg of protein on 4-nitrophenyl laurate and 4-nitrophenyl palmitate respectively. We also demonstrated simultaneous production of lipase and PHB with 191.41 mg/L PHB and 71.53 U/mg of protein lipase activity. This is the first report on co-production of PHB with value added product in a methanotrophic system.