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Methylomicrobium-Chlorella Methane Sequestration Coculture

Community ID CommunityMech:000192
Ecological State ENGINEERED
Environment saline methane-fed laboratory coculture — ontology label: laboratory environment
ENVO:01001405 · HabitatMech ↗

A defined halotolerant methanotroph-microalga coculture pairing Methylomicrobium alcaliphilum 20Z, currently represented by NCBI as Methylotuvimicrobium alcaliphilum 20Z, with Chlorella sp. HS2. The two-member system was assembled to test biological methane and carbon dioxide mitigation through metabolic coupling in saline culture, with increased methane removal, improved growth of both members, pH recovery, and greater biomass carbon sequestration reported in coculture. The system is relevant to DOE interests in methane mitigation, carbon capture and utilization, photosynthetic-methanotrophic consortia, and C1 bioconversion.

Taxonomy

Taxon Ontology ID Functional Roles Abundance
Methylomicrobium alcaliphilum 20Z — ontology label: Methylotuvimicrobium alcaliphilum 20Z NCBITaxon:1091494 · TaxonMech · TraitMech
PRIMARY_DEGRADER CROSS_FEEDER
N/A
Chlorella sp. HS2 NCBITaxon:2675547 · TaxonMech · TraitMech
PRIMARY_PRODUCER CROSS_FEEDER
N/A

Ecological Interactions

The graph shows only explicitly linked interaction participants. Community members without an asserted participant link are omitted; membership alone does not imply an interaction.

Ecological interaction network for Methylomicrobium-Chlorella Methane Sequestration Coculture Bipartite graph where circles represent taxa and non-circular symbols represent interactions, with distinct shapes and colours for mutualism. Rare or untyped interactions share the Other symbol; exact curated types remain in the interaction details.
Taxon
Mutualism
Other

Methane Removal and Mutualistic Growth

MUTUALISM

The M. alcaliphilum 20Z/Chlorella sp. HS2 coculture enhanced growth of both members under saline conditions (>3.0%), supporting the authors' mutualistic-growth interpretation. Increased methane provision in enclosed bottles led to saturated methane removal. Positive growth and removal are retained, without assigning all benefits to measured reciprocal O2/CO2 transfer or implying obligatory dependence.

Source Taxon: Chlorella sp. HS2

Target Taxon: Methylomicrobium alcaliphilum 20Z

Metabolites: methane (CHEBI:16183 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech), dioxygen (CHEBI:15379 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech)

Biological Processes:

Downstream Effects:
→ Methane and Carbon Dioxide Mitigation

PARTIAL - enhanced partner growth and methane utilization contribute to greater whole-coculture biomass carbon sequestration. The exact-pair abstract supports these positive outcomes but does not isolate reciprocal gas exchange as their sole mediator; it explicitly implicates factors beyond gaseous exchange.

Evidence

Methane and Carbon Dioxide Mitigation

Methane-fed cocultures showed nearly an order of magnitude more carbon sequestered in biomass in the reported analyses. This is a whole-culture carbon endpoint and supports the proposed halotolerant CH4/CO2 mitigation platform, not a quantified methanotroph-to-Chlorella carbon flux or demonstrated operation on real wastewater.

Participating Taxa: Methylomicrobium alcaliphilum 20Z, Chlorella sp. HS2

Metabolites: methane (CHEBI:16183 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech), carbon dioxide (CHEBI:16526 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech)

Biological Processes:

Evidence

Saline Metabolic Coupling and pH Recovery

Methane-fed saline cocultures maintained pH suitable for methanotrophic growth, alongside enhanced growth and carbon sequestration. This culture-level observation supports a favorable chemical environment; it does not establish colonization facilitation or selectively demonstrate that Chlorella-driven pH recovery causes the growth benefit.

Participating Taxa: Methylomicrobium alcaliphilum 20Z, Chlorella sp. HS2

Biological Processes:

Downstream Effects:
→ Methane and Carbon Dioxide Mitigation

HYPOTHESIZED - maintaining a suitable pH could sustain methanotrophic activity and thereby biomass carbon sequestration. The available exact-pair abstract reports the association, not a selective pH perturbation establishing its contribution independently of gas supply or other interactions.

Evidence

Knowledge gaps & discussions (1)

KNOWLEDGE_GAP OPEN Which processes mediate the positive growth, pH and biomass-carbon effects in the exact 20Z/HS2 pair?

Preserve mutual growth enhancement, methane removal and biomass carbon sequestration. The exact-pair primary abstract was read; publisher full text returned 403, so no absence-of-controls claim is made. Both cited model papers (doi:10.1016/j.mex.2022.101652 and doi:10.20517/mrr.2023.70) actually study M. buryatense 5GB1/A. platensis. Their complete main texts support kinetic/computational context, not independent exact-pair evidence. DynamiCom nitrogen exchange is a prediction awaiting experimental validation, not an HS2 mechanism. Remove those graph evidence items without inventing new nitrogen-exchange structure. #1608 addresses graph scope.

Attaches to: ecological_interactions#Methane Removal and Mutualistic Growth, ecological_interactions#Methane and Carbon Dioxide Mitigation, ecological_interactions#Saline Metabolic Coupling and pH Recovery

External Resources

Name Repository Resource ID
Exact-system primary publication - methane sequestration metabolic coupling
Primary publication reporting biological methane sequestration through metabolic coupling between M. alcaliphilum 20Z and Chlorella sp. HS2. 		OTHER doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2024.130607
NCBI Taxonomy - Methylotuvimicrobium alcaliphilum 20Z
NCBI Taxonomy record for Methylotuvimicrobium alcaliphilum 20Z. 		OTHER NCBITaxon:1091494
NCBI BioProject - Methylotuvimicrobium alcaliphilum 20Z genome
Genome sequencing BioProject for Methylotuvimicrobium alcaliphilum 20Z. 		OTHER bioproject:PRJEA73721
NCBI Taxonomy - Chlorella sp. HS2
NCBI Taxonomy record for Chlorella sp. HS2. 		OTHER NCBITaxon:2675547

Environmental Factors

Factor Value Unit
Salinity above 3.0% N/A
Methane provision increased methane provision in enclosed serum bottles N/A
Initial inoculum ratio varied without substantial biomass-yield difference N/A
Culture pH pH recovery above mild alkaline level N/A

Growth Media

Saline methane-fed methanotroph-microalga coculture assay

Atmosphere AEROBIC

Composition

Component Concentration Unit CHEBI
methane · MediaIngredientMech N/A N/A CHEBI:16183
carbon dioxide · MediaIngredientMech N/A N/A CHEBI:16526

Preparation notes: The source publication supports saline medium, methane-fed enclosed serum bottle experiments, and coculture conditions for M. alcaliphilum 20Z and Chlorella sp. HS2. Detailed medium composition is not asserted here beyond the verified saline, methane, and carbon dioxide context.

Evidence

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2024.130607

"M. alcaliphilum 20Z and Chlorella sp. HS2 were co-cultivated in a saline medium."

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2024.130607

"A halotolerant consortium between microalgae and methanotrophic bacteria"

Cross-Mech Suite Links

Explore related entities across the CultureBotAI X-Mech knowledge bases:

HabitatMech: saline methane-fed laboratory coculture ↗ TaxonMech: Methylomicrobium alcaliphilum 20Z ↗ TraitMech: Methylomicrobium alcaliphilum 20Z ↗ TaxonMech: Chlorella sp. HS2 ↗ TraitMech: Chlorella sp. HS2 ↗ CultureMech Growth Media ↗ PathwayMech Pathways ↗