Aerobic methylotrophic prokaryotes

Abstract

This chapter describes biochemical pathways operating in aerobic methylotrophic bacteria. We first define aerobic methylotrophy as a specific metabolic capability and describe the phylogenetic diversity of these bacteria. We then describe enzymes involved in primary oxidation of different single carbon substrates, resulting in formaldehyde or methyl or methylene radical, and describe the variety of pathways used for their assimilation and dissimilation. We also give a brief account of genetic manipulation tools in methylotrophic bacteria and examples of systems approaches for studying their metabolism, including availability of whole genome sequence information.