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The Methanotrophs — The Families Methylococcaceae and Methylocystaceae

  • Reference work entry
The Prokaryotes

Introduction

Methanotrophs are a group of bacteria possessing a highly specialized metabolism restricted to the utilization of methane and methanol and are a subset of the methylotrophs, bacteria and archaea able to utilize C1 compounds. Methanotrophs are by definition obligately methylotrophic and do not have the ability to grow on organic compounds possessing carbon-carbon bonds. Besides methane, the only other substrate generally utilized by methanotrophs for growth is methanol; however, a few strains can utilize methylamine and a narrow selection of other C1 compounds. Methanotrophs are an integral part of the natural ecosystem, consuming much of the methane that is biogenically (through methanogenesis) and non-biogenically (e.g., from hydrocarbon seeps, natural gas fields and coal mines) derived. This interception of methane helps maintain a balance of atmospheric methane. Methanotrophs can utilize methane as they possess an enzyme called methane monooxygenase (MMO) which occurs,...

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Authors
  1. John Bowman
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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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Bowman, J. (2006). The Methanotrophs — The Families Methylococcaceae and Methylocystaceae. In: Dworkin, M., Falkow, S., Rosenberg, E., Schleifer, KH., Stackebrandt, E. (eds) The Prokaryotes. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30745-1_15

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