Project description:A new methanogen was isolated from an anaerobic digester using pig slurry in South Korea. Only one strain, designated KOR-1, was characterized in detail. Cells of KOR-1 were straight or crooked rods, non-motile, 5 to 15 ?m long and 0.7 ?m wide. They stained Gram-positive and produced methane from H2+CO2 and formate. Strain KOR-1 grew optimally at 38°C. The optimum pH for growth was 7.0. The strain grew at 0.5% to 3.0% NaCl, with optimum growth at 2.5% NaCl. The G+C content of genomic DNA of strain KOR-1 was 41 mol%. The strain tolerated ampicillin, penicillin G, kanamycin and streptomycin but tetracycline inhibited cell growth. A large fragment of the 16S rRNA gene (~1,350 bp) was obtained from the isolate and sequenced. Comparison of 16S rRNA genes revealed that strain KOR-1 is related to Methanobacterium formicicum (98%, sequence similarity), Methanobacterium bryantii (95%) and Methanobacterium ivanovii (93%). Phylogenetic analysis of the deduced mcrA gene sequences confirmed the closest relative as based on mcrA gene sequence analysis was Methanobacterium formicicum strain (97% nucleic acid sequence identity). On the basis of physiological and phylogenetic characteristics, strain KOR-1 is proposed as a new strain within the genus Methanobacterium, Methanobacterium formicicum KOR-1.
Project description:Methanobacterium formicicum BRM9 was isolated from the rumen of a New Zealand Friesan cow grazing a ryegrass/clover pasture, and its genome has been sequenced to provide information on the phylogenetic diversity of rumen methanogens with a view to developing technologies for methane mitigation. The 2.45 Mb BRM9 chromosome has an average G?+?C content of 41%, and encodes 2,352 protein-coding genes. The genes involved in methanogenesis are comparable to those found in other members of the Methanobacteriaceae with the exception that there is no [Fe]-hydrogenase dehydrogenase (Hmd) which links the methenyl-H4MPT reduction directly with the oxidation of H2. Compared to the rumen Methanobrevibacter strains, BRM9 has a much larger complement of genes involved in determining oxidative stress response, signal transduction and nitrogen fixation. BRM9 also has genes for the biosynthesis of the compatible solute ectoine that has not been reported to be produced by methanogens. The BRM9 genome has a prophage and two CRISPR repeat regions. Comparison to the genomes of other Methanobacterium strains shows a core genome of ~1,350 coding sequences and 190 strain-specific genes in BRM9, most of which are hypothetical proteins or prophage related.
Project description:The mesophilic methanogen Methanobacterium formicicum JF-1 has been shown to contain three members of the HMf family of archaeal histones, designated HFoA1, HFoA2, and HFoB, and their encodinig genes (hfoA1, hfoA2, and hfoB) have been cloned and sequenced. The HFo histones have primary sequences that are 75 to 82% identical to the HMf sequences and appear to share ancestry with the core histones that form the eukaryal nucleosome. The HFo proteins bind and compact DNA molecules into nucleosome-like structures apparently identical to those formed by the HMf proteins, but, in contrast to the HMf proteins, this activity of the HFo proteins is lost after incubation at 95 degrees C for 5 h.
Project description:The overlapping fdhA and fdhB genes of Methanobacterium formicicum, which encode the alpha and beta subunits, respectively, of formate dehydrogenase, were cotranscribed as part of an approximately 4.5-kb transcript. An additional gene (fdhC) upstream of fdhA was cotranscribed with fdhA and fdhB. The deduced amino acid sequence suggested that fdhC has the potential to encode a hydrophobic polypeptide with a calculated molecular weight of 29,417. A hydropathy plot of the hypothetical polypeptide indicated several potential membrane-spanning regions. The putative fdhC gene product had 28% identity with the deduced amino acid sequence of the nirC gene from Salmonella typhimurium. Northern (RNA) blot analyses and primer extension assays located a transcription start site 268 bp upstream of the initiation codon of fdhC. A sequence identical to the consensus promoter sequence for methanogenic organisms was situated between -35 and -25 bp from the proposed transcription start site. In addition to the 4.5-kb transcript, Northern blot analyses detected a 1.1-kb transcript with an fdhC-specific probe and a 3.4-kb transcript with either an fdhA- or fdhB-specific probe. The levels of all three transcripts were significantly greater in cells grown in media supplemented with molybdate.
Project description:A draft genome sequence of Methanobacterium sp. strain 34x was reconstructed from the metagenome of an enriched electromethanogenic biocathode operated in a microbial electrosynthesis (MES) reactor. Methanobacterium sp. strain 34x has 68.98% nucleotide-level genomic similarity with the closest related methanogen available with a whole-genome assembly, Methanobacterium lacus strain AL-21. This genome will provide insight into the functional potential of methanogens at the biocathodes of MES systems.
Project description:Escherichia coli can hardly grow anaerobically on glycerol without exogenous electron acceptor. The formate-consuming methanogen Methanobacterium formicicum plays a role as a living electron acceptor in glycerol fermentation of E. coli. Wild-type and mutant E. coli strains were screened for succinate production using glycerol in a co-culture with M. formicicum. Subsequently, E. coli was adapted to glycerol fermentation over 39 rounds (273 days) by successive co-culture with M. formicicum. The adapted E. coli (19.9 mM) produced twice as much succinate as non-adapted E. coli (9.7 mM) and 62% more methane. This study demonstrated improved succinate production from waste glycerol using an adapted wild-type strain of E. coli with wild-type M. formicicum, which is more useful than genetically modified strains. Crude glycerol, an economical feedstock, was used for the cultivation. Furthermore, the increase in methane production by M. formicicum during co-culture with adapted E. coli illustrated the possibility of energy-saving effects for the fermentation process.
Project description:The draft genome of Methanobacterium sp. Maddingley was reconstructed from metagenomic sequencing of a methanogenic microbial consortium enriched from coal-seam gas formation water. It is a hydrogenotrophic methanogen predicted to grow using hydrogen and carbon dioxide.