Methanotrophs for Methane Mitigation and Sustainable Biotechnological Systems

Methanotrophic biotechnology sits at the crossroads of environmental microbiology and sustainable engineering/other environmental applications. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and a major driver of near-term warming, so there is an urgent need for effective ways to reduce emissions. Extremophilic methanotrophs, such as halophilic and thermophilic strains, are promising because they can oxidize methane under harsh conditions where many systems fail. Examples of novel methanotrophs are described from time to time, awaiting their biotechnological applications. Though there are protocols for standard and fast-growing cultures like Methylococus capsulatus, the new cultures bring new challenges. A key challenge is moving from strong laboratory results to systems that work reliably at scale. This includes building stable, high-performance platforms that can run for long periods in real environments. Current work focuses on improving cell immobilization to increase biomass and durability, designing matrices that support efficient gas transfer, and optimizing operating conditions to maintain activity over time. In parallel, omics and systems biology are revealing the genetic and metabolic traits that enable methane oxidation and stress tolerance, which may support strain improvement and new applications.This Research Topic brings together microbiology, materials science, and bioprocess engineering to advance scalable methane-mitigation technologies based on methanotrophs. There is also a sustainability angle in using methanotrophs for mitigation, as well as for their currently discovered applications, including agriculture. We welcome Original Research, Reviews, Methods and Perspective contributions that address biological mechanisms, system design, and practical deployment.Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):• Discovery and characterization of halophilic and thermophilic methanotrophs• Improved cell immobilization methods and matrix/material design for long-term performance• Reactor and filter concepts (e.g., LEAF-like systems), including gas flow optimization and mass transfer• Genetic, metabolic, and regulatory mechanisms supporting stress tolerance and methane oxidation• Integration of methanotrophic systems into circular and sustainable biotechnological processesPlease note that Microbiotechnology does not consider descriptive studies that are solely based on amplicon (e.g., 16S rRNA) profiles or comparisons of nucleic acid extracts (e.g., metagenomics), unless they are accompanied by a clear hypothesis and experimentation and provide insight into the microbiological system or process being studied. Topic editors: Mingyi Xu, Monali C Rahalkar Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/77466/methanotrophs-for-methane-mitigation-and-sustainable-biotechnological-systems