Methanogens are anaerobic archaea that produce methane as a byproduct of their energy metabolism, i.e., catabolism. Methane production, or methanogenesis, is the only biochemical pathway for ATP generation in methanogens. All known methanogens belong exclusively to the domain Archaea, although some bacteria, plants, and animal cells are also known to produce methane. However, the biochemical pathway for methane production in these organisms differs from that in methanogens and does not contribute to ATP formation. Methanogens belong to various phyla within the domain Archaea. Previous studies placed all known methanogens into the superphylum Euryarchaeota. However, recent phylogenomic data have led to their reclassification into several different phyla. Methanogens are common in various anoxic environments, such as marine and freshwater sediments, wetlands, the digestive tracts of animals, wastewater treatment plants, rice paddy soil, and landfills. While some methanogens are extremophiles, such as Methanopyrus kandleri, which grows between 84 and 110°C, or Methanonatronarchaeum thermophilum, which grows at a pH range of 8.2 to 10.2 and a Na+ concentration of 3 to 4.8 M, most of the isolates are mesophilic and grow around neutral pH.
Methanogenesis or biomethanation is the formation of methane coupled to energy conservation by microbes known as methanogens. Organisms capable of producing methane for energy conservation have been identified only from the domain Archaea, a group phylogenetically distinct from both eukaryotes and bacteria, although many live in close association with anaerobic bacteria. The production of methane is an important and widespread form of microbial metabolism. In anoxic environments, it is the final step in the decomposition of biomass. Methanogenesis is responsible for significant amounts of natural gas accumulations, the remainder being thermogenic.
An acetogen is a microorganism that generates acetate (CH3COO−) as an end product of anaerobic respiration or fermentation. However, this term is usually employed in a narrower sense only to those bacteria and archaea that perform anaerobic respiration and carbon fixation simultaneously through the reductive acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA) pathway (also known as the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway). These genuine acetogens are also known as "homoacetogens" and they can produce acetyl-CoA (and from that, in most cases, acetate as the end product) from two molecules of carbon dioxide (CO2) and four molecules of molecular hydrogen (H2). This process is known as acetogenesis, and is different from acetate fermentation, although both occur in the absence of molecular oxygen (O2) and produce acetate. Although previously thought that only bacteria are acetogens, some archaea can be considered to be acetogens.
Methanosarcina is a genus of euryarchaeote archaea that produce methane. These single-celled organisms are known as anaerobic methanogens that produce methane using all three metabolic pathways for methanogenesis. They live in diverse environments where they can remain safe from the effects of oxygen, whether on the earth's surface, in groundwater, in deep sea vents, and in animal digestive tracts. Methanosarcina grow in colonies.
In biology, syntrophy, syntrophism, or cross-feeding is the cooperative interaction between at least two microbial species to degrade a single substrate. This type of biological interaction typically involves the transfer of one or more metabolic intermediates between two or more metabolically diverse microbial species living in close proximity to each other. Thus, syntrophy can be considered an obligatory interdependency and a mutualistic metabolism between different microbial species, wherein the growth of one partner depends on the nutrients, growth factors, or substrates provided by the other(s).
The Wood–Ljungdahl pathway is a set of biochemical reactions used by some bacteria. It is also known as the reductive acetyl-coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA) pathway. This pathway enables these organisms to use hydrogen as an electron donor, and carbon dioxide as an electron acceptor and as a building block for biosynthesis.
In taxonomy, Methanococcoides is a genus of the Methanosarcinaceae.
In taxonomy, Methanohalophilus is a genus of the Methanosarcinaceae.
In taxonomy, Methanolobus is a genus of methanogenic archaea within the Methanosarcinaceae. These organisms are strictly anaerobes and live exclusively through the production of methane, but the species within Methanolobus cannot use carbon dioxide with hydrogen, acetate or formate, only methyl compounds. The cells are irregular coccoid in form and approximately 1 μm in diameter. They do not form endospores. They are Gram negative and only some are motile, via a single flagellum. They are found in lake and ocean sediments that lack oxygen.
In taxonomy, Methanomethylovorans is a genus of microorganisms with the family Methanosarcinaceae. This genus was first described in 1999. The species within it generally live in freshwater environments, including rice paddies, freshwater sediments and contaminated soil. They produce methane from methanol, methylamines, dimethyl sulfide and methanethiol. With the exception of M. thermophila, which has an optimal growth temperature of 50 °C, these species are mesophiles and do not tend to grow at temperatures above 40 °C.
In taxonomy, Methanosalsum is a genus of microbes within the family Methanosarcinaceae. This genus contains two species.
In the taxonomy of microorganisms, the Methanothrix is a genus of methanogenic archaea within the Euryarchaeota. Methanothrix cells were first isolated from a mesophilic sewage digester but have since been found in many anaerobic and aerobic environments. Methanothrix were originally understood to be obligate anaerobes that can survive exposure to high concentrations of oxygen, but recent studies have shown at least one Candidatus operational taxonomic unit proposed to be in the Methanothrix genus not only survives but remains active in oxic soils. This proposed species, Ca. Methanothrix paradoxum, is frequently found in methane-releasing ecosystems and is the dominant methanogen in oxic soils.
Methanobrevibacter cuticularis is a species of methanogen archaeon. It was first isolated from the hindgut of the termite Reticulitermes flavipes. It is rod-shaped, ranging in size from 0.34 to 1.6 μm and possesses polar fibers. Its morphology, gram-positive staining reaction, resistance to cell lysis by chemical agents and narrow range of utilizable substrates are typical of species belonging to the family Methanobacteriaceae. It habitates on or near the hindgut epithelium and also attached to filamentous prokaryotes associated with the gut wall. It is one of the predominant gut biota.
Methanogenium frigidum is a psychrophilic, H2-using methanogen from Ace Lake, Antarctica.
Methanococcoides burtonii is a methylotrophic methanogenic archaeon first isolated from Ace Lake, Antarctica. Its type strain is DSM 6242.
Methanococcus maripaludis is a species of methanogenic archaea found in marine environments, predominantly salt marshes. M. maripaludis is a non-pathogenic, gram-negative, weakly motile, non-spore-forming, and strictly anaerobic mesophile. It is classified as a chemolithoautotroph. This archaeon has a pleomorphic coccoid-rod shape of 1.2 by 1.6 μm, in average size, and has many unique metabolic processes that aid in survival. M. maripaludis also has a sequenced genome consisting of around 1.7 Mbp with over 1,700 identified protein-coding genes. In ideal conditions, M. maripaludis grows quickly and can double every two hours.
Methanococcoides methylutens is a methylotrophic marine methanogen, the type species of its genus. It utilises trimethylamine, diethylamine, monomethylamine, and methanol as substrates for growth and methanogenesis. Cells are non-motile, non-spore-forming, irregular cocci 1 μm in diameter which stain Gram-negative and occur singly or in pairs. TMA-10 is the type strain.
Methanohalophilus mahii is an obligately anaerobic, methylotrophic, methanogenic cocci-shaped archaeon of the genus Methanohalophilus that can be found in high salinity aquatic environments. The name Methanohalophilus is said to be derived from methanum meaning "methane" in Latin; halo meaning "salt" in Greek; and mahii meaning "of Mah" in Latin, after R.A. Mah, who did substantial amounts of research on aerobic and methanogenic microbes. The proper word in ancient Greek for "salt" is however hals (ἅλς). The specific strain type was designated SLP and is currently the only identified strain of this species.
Methanobrevibacter oralis is a methanogenic archaeon species considered to be a member of the human microbiota, mainly associated to the oral cavity. M. oralis is a coccobacillary shaped, single-cell, Gram-positive, non-motile microorganism of the Archaea domain of life. This species has been isolated and sequenced from humans in dental plaque and in their gastrointestinal tract. As a methanogen and a hydrogenotroph, this prokaryote can produce methane by using hydrogen and carbon dioxide as substrates through a process called methanogenesis.
Armophorea is a class of ciliates in the subphylum Intramacronucleata. . It was first resolved in 2004 and comprises three orders: Metopida, Clevelandellida, and Armophorida. Previously members of this class were thought to be heterotrichs because of similarities in morphology, most notably a characteristic dense arrangement of cilia surrounding their oral structures. However, the development of genetic tools and subsequent incorporation of DNA sequence information has led to major revisions in the evolutionary relationships of many protists, including ciliates. Metopids, clevelandellids, and armophorids were grouped into this class based on similarities in their small subunit rRNA sequences, making them one of two so-called "riboclasses" of ciliates, however, recent analyses suggest that Armophorida may not be related to the other two orders.
