{"id":125330,"date":"2024-08-08T19:40:51","date_gmt":"2024-08-08T14:10:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/?post_type=current-affairs&#038;p=125330"},"modified":"2024-08-09T14:32:31","modified_gmt":"2024-08-09T09:02:31","slug":"indias-own-natural-methane-mitigator","status":"publish","type":"current-affairs","link":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/current-affairs\/indias-own-natural-methane-mitigator","title":{"rendered":"India\u2019s Own Natural Methane Mitigator"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>India\u2019s first cultures of indigenous methanotrophs \u2018Methylocucumis oryzae<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019 from rice fields and wetlands have been <\/span><b>isolated and described<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> by the scientists from <\/span><b>The MACS Agharkar Research Institute<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (an autonomous institute of Department Science and Technology)\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-125310 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/84-66b4ca996dd8d.webp\" alt=\"Methane Mitigator\" width=\"454\" height=\"282\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/84-66b4ca996dd8d.webp 938w, https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/84-66b4ca996dd8d-300x186.webp 300w, https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/84-66b4ca996dd8d-768x477.webp 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 454px) 100vw, 454px\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Published In:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The first novel methanotroph description from India, <\/span><b>\u2018a novel genus and species: Methylocucumis oryzae\u2019 was published in the Indian Journal of Microbiology.<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Earlier reports on the three strains of this methanotroph and its genome have been published in:<\/span><b> Microbial Ecology, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, Frontiers in Microbiology and International Microbiology.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Found In: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Methylocucumis Oryzae <\/span><b>were found in a stone quarry in Pune, situated amidst the Vetal Tekdi or ARAI hill.<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The team of scientists documented the <\/span><b>abundance of methanotrophs in the water filled quarry, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">indicating that an active methane cycle operated in this unique habitat.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Methanotroph was a<\/span><b>dded in transplanted rice plants in pot experiments using the local popular high yielding rice variety Indrayani.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"vc_button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pw.live\/batches\/upsc?utm_source=seo+upsc+batch&#038;utm_medium=seo+upsc&#038;utm_campaign=seo&#038;utm_id=upsc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Enroll now for UPSC Online Course<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><b>About Methylocucumis Oryzae<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Phylogenetically Unique:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Methylocucumis oryzae remain phylogenetically unique <\/span><b>as no strains have been reported or cultured from any other country<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or parts of the world.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Appearance: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The methanotroph had a characteristic o<\/span><b>val and elongated shape, similar to that of a cucumber, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and thus is also called <\/span><b>\u2018methane eating cucumbers\u2019<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>Size:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It has a remarkably large size compared to other bacteria and is <\/span><b>equal to the size of a small yeast (3-6 \u00b5m).\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>Temperature Range:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> it has a<\/span><b> strict mesophilic nature and cannot grow above 37\u00baC<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> while most of the other methanotrophs can tolerate or grow at 37\u00baC or even at 40\u00baC.<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">\n<h3><span style=\"font-size: 16pt;\"><b>Importance<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Early growth and flowering:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> In pot experimental trials plant growth promotion in rice plants were s<\/span><b>een with 31% higher yield. Early flowering (~ 17days earlier <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">than the control plants) was seen when the rice plants were inoculated.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Methanotrophs have potential applications in carotenoid productio<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">n due to their ability to synthesize carotenoids as part of their metabolic processes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Industrial Applications<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Methanotrophs can serve as a <\/span><b>sustainable source for carotenoid production<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as chemical processes are economically unfeasible due to high production costs and produce harmful byproducts that pose risks to food safety<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Abundance in Environment:\u00a0 <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nevertheless, there is evidence that this organism exists in nature in abundance in wetlands and rice fields and<\/span><b> further optimization experiments can help us in developing environmental and biotechno-logical applications.<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>Oxidation of Methane: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Methanotroph can restrict the net emission of Methane to the environment. <\/span><b>These bacteria oxidize up to 20% of the produced methane <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in rice field habitats.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">\n<h3><span style=\"font-size: 16pt;\"><b>Challenges<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Slow Growth: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Methylocucumis is a <\/span><b>considerably slow-growing methanotroph and needs approximately 7\u201310 days t<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">o attain visible OD, and a maximum OD of ~ 0.4 is reached after 14 days of incubation<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Isolation: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similar to a few other methanotrophs, it was <\/span><b>initially very difficult to isolate Mcu in pure form\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Contamination: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mcu is prone to get <\/span><b>contaminated with smaller motile rods, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">which probably grow on the exo-polysaccharides and metabolites released by Mcu. Due to the possibility of getting contaminated, <\/span><b>Mcu has to be maintained under strict sterile conditions, and large-scale growth in a pure form is challenging.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Culturing: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0Methanotrophs<\/span><b> live in gradients of methane and oxygen in natur<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">e hence they <\/span><b>do not grow easily on solid or liquid media.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The basic requirement for culturing methanotrophs is the need for <\/span><b>air-tight chambers desiccators or glasswar<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">e that can be filled with methane and air<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"vc_button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/store.pw.live\/govt-entrance-exams\/upsc-books?utm_source=SEO&#038;utm_medium=PW+Live&#038;utm_campaign=UPSC+CSE+Books\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Check Out UPSC CSE Books From PW Store<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 99.7979%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th style=\"width: 100%; border-style: solid; border-color: #000000; background-color: rgba(184, 165, 217, 0.53); text-align: left; vertical-align: middle;\">\n<h3><span style=\"font-size: 16pt; color: #000000;\"><b>Methanotrophs<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Aerobic methanotrophs, or<\/span><b> methane-oxidizing bacteria use methane as the sole source of carbon and energy <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to oxidize methane t<\/span><b>o carbon dioxide and water.\u00a0<\/b><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Methane is <\/span><b>oxidized to methanol and further to formaldehyde,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> which acts as the central intermediate for conversion to the building blocks needed in cell synthesis<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Climate Regulating feature:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The <\/span><b>atmospheric budget of methane w<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ould be much<\/span><b> greater by 10\u201360% resulting in extremely high methane concentrations<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the atmosphere without this consumption activity of methanotrophs.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Methane Mitigating Agents: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Methanotrophs are natural methane mitigating agents and <\/span><b>are present in all the environments where methane and oxygen both <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">are available.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Habitats:<\/b> <b>Wetlands, rice fields, ponds and other water bodies <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">are the habitats where these grow in abundance.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Methanotrophs are potent natural producers of several bioactive secondary metabolites (SMs) <\/span><b>including isoprenoids, polymers, peptides, and vitamins.<\/b><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 100.128%;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 138.02%; 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