Growth of Graphium sp. on natural gas

Abstract

A fungus which grows well on a mineral salts solution with natural gas as the carbon source is described and provisionally identified as a Graphium species. Its taxonomic relation to several genera is presented. This organism was isolated from sewage after selection by enrichment techniques and continuous culture. The fermentor was operated at ambient temperatures, 28 °C ± 2, at a volume of 10 liters with a dilution rate of 10 liters/4 days to 10 liters/1.7 days. Coty's mineral salts medium gave the highest tissue yield. When the pH of the incoming mineral salts medium was decreased stepwise from 7.0 to 5.0 the pH of the reactor became self-adjusting, varying from around 2.7 to 3.5, and the dry weight of microbial tissue obtained varied from 65 to 275 mg/h. Also present in the continuous culture was an acid tolerant bacterium, which, when isolated, grew well on natural gas, methanol, and ethanol, and a strain of Trichoderma, which, when isolated, did not use natural gas as a carbon source. In mixed culture the Trichoderma is thought to grow on metabolites produced by either or both the Graphium and the acid-tolerant bacterium during oxidation of natural gas. The nature of the relationship is being investigated. The mixed culture has been under continuous cultivation for 18 months.

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