Methanosaeta

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Classification

Domain: Archaea Phylum: Euryarchaeota Class: Methanomicrobia Order: Methanosarcinales Family: Methanosaetaceae Genus: Methanosaeta

[1]

Description

The first culture of Methanosaeta was enriched in 1983 from thermal lake mud by Nozhevnikova et. al.[2] Methanosaeta is a methane producer, that specializes in only using acetate for methane production. Some species of this genus have been isolated as a pure culture [3].

Ecology and Significance

These organism are widely distributed across the planet, and have an extremely high affinity for acetate allowing them to thrive even if concentrations are very low. They are commonly found in rice paddies and anaerobic digestors which are common sources of methane. It has been speculated that Methanosaeta is the principle methane producer on earth, thus it is the subject of many studies [4].

References

1) "Methanosaeta." NCBI Taxonomy Browser. U.S. National Library of Medicine. Web. 11 May 2015. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?mode=Info&id=2222>.

2) KAMAGATA, Y., & MIKAMI, E. (1991). Isolation and characterization of a novel thermophilic Methanosaeta strain. International journal of systematic bacteriology, 41(2), 191-196.

3) Zinder, S. H., Anguish, T., & Lobo, A. L. (1987). Isolation and characterization of a thermophilic acetotrophic strain of Methanothrix. Archives of microbiology, 146(4), 315-322.

4) Smith, K. S., & Ingram-Smith, C. (2007). Methanosaeta, the forgotten methanogen?. Trends in microbiology, 15(4), 150-155.

Author

Page authored by James Kralj, student of Prof. Katherine Mcmahon at University of Wisconsin - Madison.