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The Order Methanobacteriales

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The Prokaryotes

Characteristics of Methanobacteriales

Members of the order Methanobacteriales are distinguished from other methanogens by their limited range of catabolic substrates, their morphology, lipid composition, and rDNA sequence. The Methanobacteriales are generally hydrogenotrophic, using H2 to reduce CO2 to CH4. Some members of this order can use formate, CO, or secondary alcohols as electron donors for CO2 reduction. However, members of one genus within this order, Methanosphaera, use H2 to reduce methanol to methane. The predominant cell wall polymer of Methanobacteriales is pseudomurein, which distinguishes this order from the Methanomicrobiales. Lipids composing the cell membranes include caldarchaeol and myo-inositol. Cells usually stain Gram positive and are generally rod-shaped, often forming chains or long filaments up to 40 µm in length. The order Methanobacteriales is divided into two families, the Methanobacteriaceae and Methanothermaceae, on the basis of phylogenetic analysis...

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Authors
  1. Adam S. Bonin
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  2. David R. Boone
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Editor information

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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Bonin, A.S., Boone, D.R. (2006). The Order Methanobacteriales. In: Dworkin, M., Falkow, S., Rosenberg, E., Schleifer, KH., Stackebrandt, E. (eds) The Prokaryotes. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30743-5_11

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