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Methanosarcina barkeri

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Species of archaea

Methanosarcina barkeri
Phase-contrast photo of Methanosarcina barkeri, type strain MS
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Archaea
Kingdom: Euryarchaeota
Class: Methanomicrobia
Order: Methanosarcinales
Family: Methanosarcinaceae
Genus: Methanosarcina
Species: M. barkeri
Binomial name
Methanosarcina barkeri
Schnellen 1947

Methanosarcina barkeri is the type species of the genus Methanosarcina, characterized by its wide range of substrates used in methanogenesis. While most known methanogens produce methane from H2 and CO2, M. barkeri can also dismutate methylated compounds such as methanol or methylamines, oxidize acetate, and reduce methylated compounds with H2. This makes M. barkeri one of the few Methanosarcina species capable of utilizing all four known methanogenesis pathways. Even among other Methanosarcinales, which commonly utilize a broad range of substrates, the ability to grow on H2 and CO2 is rare due to the requirement for high H2 partial pressure. Like other Methanosarcina species, M. barkeri has a large genome (4.53 Mbp for the type strain MS, 4.9 Mbp for the Wiesmoor strain, and 4.5 Mbp for the CM2 strain), although it is significantly smaller than the largest archaeal genome of Methanosarcina acetivorans (5.75 Mbp for the type strain C2A). It is also one of the few archaea, particularly among anaerobic species, that is genetically tractable and can be used for genetic studies.

Isolation and Physiology

The type strain of the species designated as MS (DSM 800, JCM 10043, ATCC 43569) was isolated from the sewage digester. It was designated as neotype of the species because the original type strain of M. barkeri described in the PhD thesis of Schnellen in 1947 was lost. Besides the type strain MS, a few more strains of M. barkeri described. For example, the strain Fusaro is commonly used for genetic studies of Methanosarcina. It was isolated in mud samples taken from Lake Fusaro, a freshwater lake near Naples. As other Methanosarcina species, M. barkeri can also be found in marine and freshwater sediments, sewage, soil, and landfills.

Morphology of Methanosarcina cells depends on growing conditions, e.g. on salt concentrations. M. barkeri shows this variable morphology: when grown in freshwater medium, these microbes grow into large, multicellular aggregates embedded in a matrix of methanochondroitin, while growing in marine environment as single, irregular cocci, only surrounded by the S-layer, but no methanochondroitin. The aggregates can grow large enough to be seen by the naked eye. Methanosarcina could produce positive Gram stain, but generally, it is Gram variable. M. barkeri has a thick cell wall compounded by a short lipid cell membrane that is similar in structure to most other methanogens. However, its cell walls do not contain peptidoglycan. M. barkeri str. fusaro has no flagellum but has potential for movement through the creation of gas vesicles. These gas vesicles have only been produced in the presence of hydrogen and carbon dioxide, likely acting as a response to a hydrogen gradient. M. barkeri's chromosome is large and circular, derived from its remarkable ability to metabolize a variety of different carbon molecules. This offers the species an advantage as though it is immotile, it can adapt to its environment depending on the energy sources available. M. barkeri's circular plasmid consists of about twenty genes.

Applications and importance

Methanosarcina barkeri's unique nature as an anaerobic methanogen that ferments many carbon sources can have many implications for future biotechnology and environmental studies. As M. barkeri is found in the rumen of cows, a place with an extreme dearth of oxygen, it is classified as an extreme anaerobe. Furthermore, the methane gas produced by cows due to M. barkeri could play a role in greenhouse gas production. However, since M. barkeri can survive in extreme conditions and produce methane, M. barkeri can be implemented in low pH ecosystems, effectively neutralizing the acidity environment, and making it more amenable for other methanogens. This, in turn, would allow people to harness the pure methane produced at landfills or through cow waste. Evidently, the implications of M. barkeri are those aligned with potential alternative energy and investment.

Notes

  1. In "Methanosarcina barkeri str. Fusaro plasmid 1, complete sequence", GenBank: CP000098.1, 20 genes were annotated, 18 for “CDS” and two for “pseudo”.

References

  1. Methanosarcina barkeri was named by Charles Gerardus Theodorus Petrus Schnellen in honor of H. Albert Barker. — Schnellen, C. G. T. P. Onderzoekingen over de methaangisting. Doctoral thesis. Tech. Univ. Delft Rotterdam, Netherlands, 1947.
  2. Mand, Thomas D.; Metcalf, William W. (20 November 2019). "Energy Conservation and Hydrogenase Function in Methanogenic Archaea, in Particular the GenusMethanosarcina". Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews. 83 (4). doi:10.1128/mmbr.00020-19. ISSN 1092-2172. PMC 6759668. PMID 31533962.
  3. Thauer, Rudolf K.; Kaster, Anne-Kristin; Seedorf, Henning; Buckel, Wolfgang; Hedderich, Reiner (30 June 2008). "Methanogenic archaea: ecologically relevant differences in energy conservation". Nature Reviews Microbiology. 6 (8): 579–591. doi:10.1038/nrmicro1931. ISSN 1740-1526.
  4. Feldewert, Christopher; Lang, Kristina; Brune, Andreas (21 August 2020). "The hydrogen threshold of obligately methyl-reducing methanogens". FEMS Microbiology Letters. 367 (17). doi:10.1093/femsle/fnaa137. ISSN 1574-6968. PMC 7485788. PMID 32821944.
  5. Maeder, Dennis L.; Anderson, Iain; Brettin, Thomas S.; Bruce, David C.; Gilna, Paul; Han, Cliff S.; Lapidus, Alla; Metcalf, William W.; Saunders, Elizabeth; Tapia, Roxanne; Sowers, Kevin R. (15 November 2006). "The Methanosarcina barkeri Genome: Comparative Analysis with Methanosarcina acetivorans and Methanosarcina mazei Reveals Extensive Rearrangement within Methanosarcinal Genomes". Journal of Bacteriology. 188 (22): 7922–7931. doi:10.1128/jb.00810-06. ISSN 0021-9193. PMC 1636319. PMID 16980466.
  6. DasSarma, Shiladitya (28 May 2002). "Faculty Opinions recommendation of The genome of M. acetivorans reveals extensive metabolic and physiological diversity". doi:10.3410/f.1006490.81806. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  7. Protasov, Evgenii; Reeh, Hanna; Liu, Pengfei; Poehlein, Anja; Platt, Katja; Heimerl, Thomas; Hervé, Vincent; Daniel, Rolf; Brune, Andreas (6 August 2024). "Genome reduction in novel, obligately methyl-reducing Methanosarcinales isolated from arthropod guts (Methanolapillus gen. nov. and Methanimicrococcus)". FEMS Microbiology Ecology. 100 (9). doi:10.1093/femsec/fiae111. ISSN 1574-6941.
  8. Gonnerman, Matthew C.; Benedict, Matthew N.; Feist, Adam M.; Metcalf, William W.; Price, Nathan D. (26 March 2013). "Genomically and biochemically accurate metabolic reconstruction of Methanosarcina barkeri Fusaro, iMG746". Biotechnology Journal. 8 (9): 1070–1079. doi:10.1002/biot.201200266. ISSN 1860-6768. PMID 23420771.
  9. Metcalf, William W.; Zhang, Jun Kai; Apolinario, Ethel; Sowers, Kevin R.; Wolfe, Ralph S. (18 March 1997). "A genetic system for Archaea of the genus Methanosarcina : Liposome-mediated transformation and construction of shuttle vectors". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 94 (6): 2626–2631. doi:10.1073/pnas.94.6.2626. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 20139. PMID 9122246.
  10. Boccazzi, Paolo; Zhang, Jun Kai; Metcalf, William W. (May 2000). "Generation of Dominant Selectable Markers for Resistance to Pseudomonic Acid by Cloning and Mutagenesis of the ileS Gene from the Archaeon Methanosarcina barkeri Fusaro". Journal of Bacteriology. 182 (9): 2611–2618. doi:10.1128/jb.182.9.2611-2618.2000. ISSN 0021-9193. PMC 111328. PMID 10762266.
  11. Balch, W E; Fox, G E; Magrum, L J; Woese, C R; Wolfe, R S (1979). "Methanogens: reevaluation of a unique biological group". Microbiological Reviews. 43 (2): 260–296. doi:10.1128/mmbr.43.2.260-296.1979. ISSN 0146-0749.
  12. Escalante-Semerena, Jorge (2 January 2003). "Faculty Opinions recommendation of Genetic analysis of the archaeon Methanosarcina barkeri Fusaro reveals a central role for Ech hydrogenase and ferredoxin in methanogenesis and carbon fixation". doi:10.3410/f.1010824.177471. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  13. Brill, Jessica. "Methanosarcina barkeri Fusaro, DSM 804". Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
  14. Oren, Aharon (2014), "The Family Methanosarcinaceae", The Prokaryotes, Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 259–281, doi:10.1007/978-3-642-38954-2_408, ISBN 978-3-642-38953-5, retrieved 18 November 2024
  15. ^ Sowers, K. R.; Boone, J. E.; Gunsalus, R. P. (1993). "Disaggregation of Methanosarcina spp. and Growth as Single Cells at Elevated Osmolarity". Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 59 (11): 3832–3839. doi:10.1128/AEM.59.11.3832-3839.1993. ISSN 0099-2240. PMC 182538. PMID 16349092.
  16. ^ Maeder, Dennis; Anderson, Iian (November 2006). "The Methanosarcina barkeri Genome: Comparative Analysis with Methanosarcina acetivorans and Methanosarcina mazei Reveals Extensive Rearrangement within Methanosarcinal Genomes". Journal of Bacteriology. 188 (22): 7922–7931. doi:10.1128/JB.00810-06. PMC 1636319. PMID 16980466.
  17. ^ Balch, W. E.; Fox, G. E.; Magrum, L. J.; Woese, C. R.; Wolfe, R. S. (1979). "Methanogens: reevaluation of a unique biological group". Microbiological Reviews. 43 (2): 260–296. doi:10.1128/MMBR.43.2.260-296.1979. ISSN 0146-0749. PMC 281474. PMID 390357.
  18. Boone, David R.; Mah, Robert A. (14 September 2015), Whitman, William B; Rainey, Fred; Kämpfer, Peter; Trujillo, Martha (eds.), "Methanosarcina", Bergey's Manual of Systematics of Archaea and Bacteria, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, pp. 1–15, doi:10.1002/9781118960608.gbm00519, ISBN 9781118960608
  19. Kandler, Otto; Hippe, Hans (1977). "Lack of peptidoglycan in the cell walls of Methanosarcina barkeri". Archives of Microbiology. 113 (1–2): 57–60. doi:10.1007/bf00428580. PMID 889387. S2CID 19145374.
  20. Balch, W.E. (1979). "Methanogens:reevaluation of a unique biological group". Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews. 43 (2): 260–96. doi:10.1128/mmbr.43.2.260-296.1979. PMC 281474. PMID 390357.
  21. ^ Hook, Sarah; McBride, Brian (December 2010). "Methanogens: Methane Producers of the Rumen and Mitigation Strategies". Archaea. 2010: 11. doi:10.1155/2010/945785. PMC 3021854. PMID 21253540.

Further reading

External links

Taxon identifiers
Methanosarcina barkeri
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