Isolation and identification of n-butane-assimilating bacterium.

A bacterial strain capable of assimilating gaseous n-alkanes was newly isolated from activated sludge by enrichment culture technique using n-butane as the sole carbon source. The strain was identified as Pseudomonas butanovora sp. nov. It utilized n-alkanes of C2_??_C9, primary alcohols and carboxylic acids for growth, but did not utilize sugars and C1 compounds. The cell yields on gaseous n-alkanes, such as ethane, propane and n-butane, were 80% or more. The maximum specific growth rate on n-butane was 0.22 hr-1 at 30°C, pH 7.0. Dried cells of this new isolate grown on n-butane contained 73% pure protein.