ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF METHANOTROPHIC BACTERIA FROM RICE FIELDS

Methane is a greenhouse gas capable of depleting the ozone layer. Rice fields are significant sources of atmospheric methane. The application of chemical fertilizer in rice fields increases the methane emission. Methanotrophic bacteria has a unique ability as it can utilize methane as a source of carbon and energy. This research was able to isolate and characterize successfully the methanotrophic bacteria from rice fields in Bogor and Sukabumi, in West Java, Indonesia. Methane oxidation was determined through Gas Chromatography and it shows that all isolates performed methane oxidation activity. The highest methane oxidation activity was performed by BGM 9 isolate. And the DNA amplification of BGM 9 genome was performed by a single band of mmoX in the size of 500 bp and three bands of pmoA in the size of 1000, 750 and 500 bp respectively