IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v7y2016i1d10.1038_ncomms13641.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The in vivo hydrocarbon formation by vanadium nitrogenase follows a secondary metabolic pathway

Author

Listed:
  • Johannes G. Rebelein

    (University of California)

  • Chi Chung Lee

    (University of California)

  • Yilin Hu

    (University of California)

  • Markus W. Ribbe

    (University of California
    University of California)

Abstract

The vanadium (V)-nitrogenase of Azotobacter vinelandii catalyses the in vitro conversion of carbon monoxide (CO) to hydrocarbons. Here we show that an A. vinelandii strain expressing the V-nitrogenase is capable of in vivo reduction of CO to ethylene (C2H4), ethane (C2H6) and propane (C3H8). Moreover, we demonstrate that CO is not used as a carbon source for cell growth, being instead reduced to hydrocarbons in a secondary metabolic pathway. These findings suggest a possible role of the ancient nitrogenase as an evolutionary link between the carbon and nitrogen cycles on Earth and establish a solid foundation for biotechnological adaptation of a whole-cell approach to recycling carbon wastes into hydrocarbon products. Thus, this study has several repercussions for evolution-, environment- and energy-related areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Johannes G. Rebelein & Chi Chung Lee & Yilin Hu & Markus W. Ribbe, 2016. "The in vivo hydrocarbon formation by vanadium nitrogenase follows a secondary metabolic pathway," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-6, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms13641
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13641
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms13641
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/ncomms13641?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms13641. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.