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Isolation and characterization ofMethanococcus mazei

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Abstract

Methanococcus mazei strain S-6 was isolated from a laboratory digester; this is the first report of its isolation in pure culture. The present isolate exhibited a life cycle, and the forms produced during its development fit the morphological description ofM. mazei exactly. In young cultures, cell clusters resembleMethanosarcina strain TM-1; in older cultures, these cell clusters become “cysts” which may be physically ruptured to yield myriads of highly irregular coccoid elements.M. mazei used acetate, methanol, methylamine, or trimethylamine for growth and methanogenesis. It used H2−CO2 slowly. It did not use formate, ethanol, butyrate, or propionate. It was Gram negative to Gram variable.

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  1. Division of Environmental & Nutritional Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, 90024, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Robert A. Mah

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  1. Robert A. Mah
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Mah, R.A. Isolation and characterization ofMethanococcus mazei . Current Microbiology 3, 321–326 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02601895

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