Methanol bioeconomy: promotion of rice crop yield in paddy fields with microbial cells prepared from natural gas‐derived C₁ compound

Abstract

Methylotrophs, which can utilize methanol as a sole carbon source, are promising microorganisms to be exploited in a methanol-based bioeconomy, in which a variety of useful compounds are biotechnologically produced from natural gas-derived methanol. Pinkpigmented facultative methylotrophs (PPFMs) are common plant phyllospheric bacteria and are known to enhance seedling growth and total biomass of various plants. However, improvement of crop yield by inoculation of PPFMs at the field level has not been well investigated. We herein describe improvement of crop yield of several rice cultivars by foliar spraying of PPFMs. After selection of PPFM strains and rice cultivars by the in vitro seedling growth test, we further conducted paddy field experiments. The crop yield of the sake-brewing rice Oryza sativa cultivar Hakutsurunishiki was reproducibly improved in a commercial paddy field for over a 5-year period. A one-time foliar spray of PPFM cells (living or killed) or a cell wall polysaccharide fraction, after the heading date, acted in the phyllosphere and effectively improved crop yield. Our results show that the established process with PPFMs is feasible for improvement of food production in the methanol bioeconomy.

A unique case in whichKimoto-style fermentation was completed withLeuconostocas the dominant genus without transitioning toLactobacillus

“…Methylobacterium spp. was reported to utilize methanol as a source of carbon and energy and is widely found on the leaf surface of plants, including rice (20,21). Anaerobacterium spp.…”

Siderophore for Lanthanide and Iron Uptake for Methylotrophy and Plant Growth Promotion in Methylobacterium aquaticum Strain 22A

“…Furthermore, the phyllosphere colonization by Methylobacterium species has been shown to vary with plant species, session, and growth stage ( Omer et al, 2004 ). Methylobacterium species have also been identified as plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) ( Tani et al, 2015 ; Yurimoto et al, 2021 ) that enhance plant abiotic stress tolerance ( Kumar et al, 2019 ).…”

Physiology of Methylotrophs Living in the Phyllosphere

“…However, improvement of crop yields at the field level has not been well investigated. We recently reported improved rice crop yields following foliar spraying of PPFMs in a commercial paddy field [52]. After selection of PPFM strains and rice (Oryza sativa) cultivars based on the results of in vitro seedling growth tests, we conducted paddy field experiments.…”