Editor's Summary
10 March 2005
Methane oxidation: life coach
Methane is the main component of natural gas, so there is keen interest in methods of converting it into liquids such as methanol for use as alternatives to petroleum. But it is also the most inert hydrocarbon, and no practical catalysts have been developed to crack the problem. Methane-eating bacteria have cracked it, however, most of them with the enzyme methane monooxygenase. The structure of this enzyme has now been determined to 2.8 Å resolution, revealing that the protein contains three monomers and three metal centres. Future work to establish which of the metal centres is catalytic and how the electrons needed to oxidize methane are delivered may facilitate development of synthetic catalysts to convert methane into methanol.
News and Views: Semiconductor technology: Negatively successful
Organic semiconducting polymers are promising electronic materials, but for full versatility they need to conduct negative as well as positive charge. A step towards that goal has now been taken.
Ananth Dodabalapur
doi:10.1038/434151a
Article: Crystal structure of a membrane-bound metalloenzyme that catalyses the biological oxidation of methane
Raquel L. Lieberman and Amy C. Rosenzweig
doi:10.1038/nature03311
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (395K) | Supplementary information