The Biotransformation of Propylene to Propylene Oxide by Methylococcus Capsulatus (Bath): 1. Optimization of Rates

The rates of propylene oxidation to propylene oxide by Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath) have been optimized in small shake flasks to establish the potential of this process for industrial application. It was shown that addition of the electron donors methanol, formaldehyde, formate or hydrogen stimulated the endogenous rate of propylene oxide formation 10 to 50 fold. Rates in excess of 500 nmol min^-1 mg dry weight cells^-1 have been obtained using methanol as the donor. These high rates could only be sustained for 3 to 4 min before loss of biocatalytic activity caused the rate of propylene oxide production to decline.