Cultivation and detection of endophytic aerobic methanotrophs isolated from Sphagnum species as a perspective for environmental biotechnology

Zofia Stępniewska, Agnieszka Kuźniar

Enriched cultures of microorganisms are an essential step in the production of inoculum of these organisms for biotechnology and bioengineering. The potential application of methanotrophic microorganisms for removal of methane produced from landfills and coal mines as well as biodegradation of toxic compounds has been widely studied. Therefore, searching for new sources of methanotrophs can contribute to increasing the possibilities of biotechnology and bioengineering. Enrichment cultures of endophytic methanotrophs from Sphagnum sp. were initiated in NMS medium, a most widely used medium for cultivation of methanotrophic bacteria from various environments proposed in 1970 by Whittenbury. Incubation was carried out at 10, 20, 30, and 37°C with vigorous shaking on a shaker (180 rpm). The source of carbon and energy for endophytes were methane at the concentration range between 1-20%. It appeared that the consortium of endophytic bacteria grew only at the temperature of 20 and 30°C. During the culture of endophytes, the measurements of gas concentration showed a steady loss of methane and oxygen, as well as accumulation of carbon dioxide as a CH4 oxidation product. The use of FISH has made characterization of endophytic consortia possible. It turned out that the population of endophytes consists of type I and II methanotrophs as well as associated non-methanotrophic bacteria. Furthermore, we determined the potential of the examined bacteria for methane oxidation, which ranged up to 4,7 μMCH4 per ml of the population of endophytes per day.