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Physiology and Biochemistry of the Methane-Producing Archaea

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The Prokaryotes

The methane-producing Archaea or methanoarchaea are distinguished by their ability to obtain all or most of their energy for growth from the process of methane biosynthesis or methanogenesis. To date, no methanogens have been identified that can grow without producing methane, and these Archaea are all obligate methane producers that are uniquely specialized for this lifestyle. Methanogenesis is an anaerobic respiration, but its complexity and commitment of resources far exceeds that found in other common respiratory processes. For instance, it requires the biosynthesis of six unusual coenzymes; a long, multistep pathway for methane; and a number of unique membrane-bound enzyme complexes for coupling to the proton motive force (see below).

Given the complexity of this process, it is not surprising that methanogens appear to be monophyletic. Hence, all modern methanoarchaea possess an ancient ancestor within the Euryarchaeota (Fig. 1). Although the branching order of the deep branches...

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Authors
  1. Reiner Hedderich
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  2. William B. Whitman
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, University of Minnesota, Box 196, Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN 55455-0312, USA

    Martin Dworkin Professor Dr. (Editor-in-Chief) (Editor-in-Chief)

  2. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University Medical School, 299 Campus Drive, Fairchild, D039, Stanford, CA, 94305-5124, USA

    Stanley Falkow

  3. Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Tel Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv, 69978, Israel

    Eugene Rosenberg

  4. Department of Microbiology, Technical University Munich, 80290, Munich, Germany

    Karl-Heinz Schleifer

  5. DSMZ- German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures GmbH, Mascheroder Weg 1b, 38124, Braunschweig, Germany

    Erko Stackebrandt

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Hedderich, R., Whitman, W.B. (2006). Physiology and Biochemistry of the Methane-Producing Archaea. In: Dworkin, M., Falkow, S., Rosenberg, E., Schleifer, KH., Stackebrandt, E. (eds) The Prokaryotes. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30742-7_34

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