The production of bulk chemicals mostly depends on exhausting petroleum sources and leads to emission of greenhouse gases. Within the last decades the urgent need for alternative sources has increased and the development of bio-based processes received new attention. To avoid the competition between the use of sugars as food or fuel, other feedstocks with high availability and low cost are needed, which brought acetogenic bacteria into focus. This group of anaerobic organisms uses mixtures of CO₂, CO and H₂ for the production of mostly acetate and ethanol. Also methanol, a cheap and abundant bulk chemical produced from methane, is a suitable substrate for acetogenic bacteria. In methylotrophic acetogens the methyl group is transferred to the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway, a pathway to reduce CO₂ to acetate via a series of C₁-intermediates bound to tetrahydrofolic acid. Here we describe the biochemistry and bioenergetics of methanol conversion in the biotechnologically interesting group of anaerobic, acetogenic bacteria. Further, the bioenergetics of biochemical production from methanol is discussed.

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产乙酸菌中甲醇和甲基的转化：生物化学、生理学和应用

大宗化学品的生产主要依赖于石油资源的枯竭，并导致温室气体的排放。在过去的几十年里，对替代来源的迫切需求增加了，生物基工艺的发展受到了新的关注。为了避免使用糖作为食物或燃料之间的竞争，需要其他具有高可用性和低成本的原料，这使产乙酸菌成为焦点。这组厌氧生物使用 CO ₂、CO 和 H _{2 的}混合物主要用于生产醋酸盐和乙醇。此外，甲醇是一种由甲烷生产的廉价且丰富的大宗化学品，也是产乙酸细菌的合适底物。在甲基营养型产乙酸菌中，甲基被转移到 Wood-Ljungdahl 途径，这是一种通过一系列与四氢叶酸结合的 C ₁中间体将 CO ₂还原为乙酸盐的途径。在这里，我们描述了生物技术上有趣的厌氧产乙酸菌群中甲醇转化的生物化学和生物能学。此外，还讨论了甲醇生化生产的生物能学。