Methanococcus Explained

Methanococcus is a genus of coccoid methanogens of the family Methanococcaceae.^[1] They are all mesophiles, except the thermophilic M. thermolithotrophicus and the hyperthermophilic M. jannaschii. The latter was discovered at the base of a “white smoker” chimney at 21°N on the East Pacific Rise^[2] and it was the first archaeal genome to be completely sequenced, revealing many novel and eukaryote-like elements.^[3]

Phylogeny

The currently accepted taxonomy is based on the List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature (LPSN) ^[4] and National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).^[5]

See also

• List of Archaea genera

Further reading

• Judicial Commission of the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes . 2005 . The nomenclatural types of the orders Acholeplasmatales, Halanaerobiales, Halobacteriales, Methanobacteriales, Methanococcales, Methanomicrobiales, Planctomycetales, Prochlorales, Sulfolobales, Thermococcales, Thermoproteales and Verrucomicrobiales are the genera Acholeplasma, Halanaerobium, Halobacterium, Methanobacterium, Methanococcus, Methanomicrobium, Planctomyces, Prochloron, Sulfolobus, Thermococcus, Thermoproteus and Verrucomicrobium, respectively. Opinion 79 . Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. . 55 . 517 - 518 . 15653928 . Pt 1 . 10.1099/ijs.0.63548-0. free .
• 10.1099/00207713-49-2-591 . Jeanthon C . L'Haridon S . Pradel N . Prieur D . 1999 . Rapid identification of hyperthermophilic methanococci isolated from deep-sea hydrothermal vents . Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. . 49 . 2 . 591 - 594 . 10319480. free .
• 10.1099/00207713-46-3-727 . Keswani J . Orkand S . Premachandran U . Mandelco L . 4 . Franklin MJ . Whitman WB . 1996 . Phylogeny and taxonomy of mesophilic Methanococcus spp. and comparison of rRNA, DNA hybridization, and phenotypic methods . Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. . 46 . 727 - 735 . 8782682 . 3. free .
• 10.1099/00207713-36-2-357 . Wayne . LG . 1986 . Actions of the Judicial Commission of the International Committee on Systematic Bacteriology on requests for opinions published in 1983 and 1984 . Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. . 36 . 2 . 357 - 358 . free .
• 10.1099/00207713-36-3-491 . Judicial Commission of the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes . 1986 . Transfer of the type species of the genus Methanococcus to the genus Methanosarcina as Methanosarcina mazei (Barker 1936) comb. nov. et emend. Mah and Kuhn 1984 and conservation of the genus Methanococcus (Approved Lists, 1980) emend. Mah and Kuhn 1984 with Methanococcus vannielii (Approved Lists, 1980) as the type species . Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. . 36 . 491 . free .
• 10.1099/00207713-34-2-263 . Mah RA . Kuhn DA . 1984 . Transfer of the type species of the genus Methanococcus to the genus Methanosarcina naming it Methanosarcina mazei (Barker 1936) comb. nov. et emend. and conservation of the genus Methanococcus (Approved Lists, 1980) with Methanococcus vannielii (Approved Lists, 1980) as the type species. Request for an opinion . Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. . 34 . 2 . 263 - 265 . free .
• Balch WE . Fox GE . Magrum LJ . Woses CR . 4 . Wolfe RS . 1979 . Methanogens: reevaluation of a unique biological group . Microbiol. Rev. . 43 . 260 - 296 . 390357 . 2 . 281474 . 10.1128/MMBR.43.2.260-296.1979.
• Allen. Kylie. Wegener. Gunter. White. Robert. Discovery of Multiple Modified F430 Coenzymes in Methanogens and Anaerobic Methanotrophic Archaea Suggests Possible New Roles for F430 in Nature. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 8 August 2014. 80. 20. 6403–6412. 10.1128/AEM.02202-14. 25107965. 4178637. 2014ApEnM..80.6403A.
• Kluyver AJ . van Niel CB . 1936 . Prospects for a natural system of classification of bacteria . Zentralbl. Bakterol. Parasitenkd. Infectinskr. Hyg., Abt. II . 94 . 369 - 403 .

Notes and References

1. See the NCBI webpage on Methanococcus. Data extracted from the Web site: NCBI taxonomy resources . . 2007-03-19.
2. W.J. Jones . etal. December 1983. Methanococcus jannaschii sp. nov., an extremely thermophilic methanogen from a submarine hydrothermal vent. Arch. Microbiol.. 136. 4. 254–261. 10.1007/BF00425213. 33277659.
3. C.J. Bult . etal. August 1996. Complete genome sequence of the methanogenic archaeon, Methanococcus jannaschii. Science. 273. 5278. 1058–1073. 10.1126/science.273.5278.1058. 8688087. 1996Sci...273.1058B. 41481616.
4. Web site: J.P. Euzéby . Methanococcales . 2011-11-17 . List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature (LPSN) . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130127030659/http://www.bacterio.cict.fr/classifphyla.html . 2013-01-27 .
5. Web site: Sayers. etal. Methanococcales . 2011-06-05 . National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) taxonomy database.
6. Web site: The LTP . 10 May 2023.
7. Web site: LTP_all tree in newick format. 10 May 2023.
8. Web site: LTP_06_2022 Release Notes. 10 May 2023.
9. Web site: GTDB release 08-RS214 . Genome Taxonomy Database. 10 May 2023.
10. Web site: ar53_r214.sp_label . Genome Taxonomy Database. 10 May 2023.
11. Web site: Taxon History . Genome Taxonomy Database. 10 May 2023.