Methanobrevibacter gottschalkii
This Funk Microbial Biorealm Genus template page is a guide for each student when creating and adding an entirely new species to MicrobeWiki. COPY AND PASTE this entire template (below) to set up a new page for a new species entry, then begin to fill in and edit the page. State at the bottom of the page that the page is "Authored by [your Student Name]" in front of "a student of CJ Funk at John Brown University".
Classification
Higher order taxa
Domain-Archaea; Phylum-Euryarchaeota; Class-Methanobacteria; Order-MEthanobacteriales; family-Methanobateriaceae [Others may be used. Use NCBI link to find]
Species
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NCBI: Taxonomy |
Genus species
Description and significance
a. Most species (6 out of 7) of Methanobrevibacter can be isolated from gastrointestinal ecosystems. Methanobrevibacter gottschalkii is one of those species. M. gottschalkii was named after Gerhard Gottschalk because of his understanding of the biochemistry concerning methanogens. M. gottschalkii was first isolated and characterized by Terry Miller in 1986. b. M. gottschalkii is coccobacillus with rounded ends. It is about 0.7 micrometers in width and 0.9micrometers in length and they occur either in pairs or short chains. M. gottschalkii is Gram positive, and the cell wall is composed of pseudomurein. M. gottschalkii cells are resistant to lysis by SDS. It's optimum temperature is 37C, and it's optimum pH is 7. M. gottschalkii is a strict anaerobe. It can grow and produce methane form H2 and CO2, but not from formate, acetate, methanol, trimethylamines or methanol with H2.
Genome and genetics
a. The major branch of prokaryotes that M. gottschalkii belongs to is archaea. Two similar species are Methanobrevibacter thaueri and Methanobrevibacter millerae SM9.
b. In order to study M. gottschalkii, the 16S rRNA genes are first amplified via PCR, and then cloned using E. coli plasmids so that the different gene variants can be separated. However, this is not the only method for studying M. gottschalkii. RNA-targeted DNA probes have also been used in order to analyze the archaeal community of rumen against the extracted RNA. Temporal temperature gradient gel electrophoresis is also used to separate 16S rRNA genes that have been amplified by PCR.
c. The genome of M. gottschalkii has not yet been sequenced, however, there is a genome sequence for the closely related M. millerae SM9 on Biomed Central (standardsingenomics.biomedcentral.com). The genome of M. millerae SM9 is made up of 2,543,538 bp in a circular chromosome, and it has an average G+C content of 31.8%. M. ruminantium (another strain closely related to M. gottschalkii), has also been sequenced, and the similarity between the two suggests that any strategies based on the M. millerae SM9 genome should be applicable to any methanobrevibacter in the M. gottschalkii clade.
Nutrition and metabolism
a.Describe the growth characteristics of your bacterial species; sources of C, N, electrons; respires/ferments, uses O2, etc.
b.What kinds of culture conditions (temp, pH, media) are needed for laboratory study?
c.What kinds of waste, by-products, volatile compounds are generated?
Ecology / Pathology
Ecology: How is your microorganism important in the ecosystem where it is found? How does it impact other organisms in the environment (could be positive or negative impact)?
Pathology: How does the microbe cause disease as it interacts with the host? Describe any specific toxins or pathways that are used for invading and causing disease in the host. What treatment is used to inhibit or kill the microbe?
Current Research
Describe recent research and findings that have been done with this organism. The research can be clinical, applied or basic research. This section should be based on 2 recent papers (10 years or less) and summarized in your own words.
References
Lin, C. & Miller, T.L. (2002). Description of Methanobrevibacter gottschalkii sp. nov., Methanobrevibacter thaueri sp., nov., Methanobrevibacter woesei sp., nov., and Methanobrevibacter wolinii sp., nov. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, 52, 819-822. Unknown. Methanobrevibater gottschalkii, Wikivisually, http://wikivisually.com/wiki/Methanobrevibacter_gottschalkii
Authored by [Hannah Malone], a student of CJ Funk at John Brown University
