Query: NC_012988:32996 Methylobacterium extorquens DM4, complete genome
Lineage: Methylobacterium extorquens; Methylobacterium; Methylobacteriaceae; Rhizobiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: Methylobacterium extorquens DM4 was isolated from soil contaminated with halogenated (chlorine-containing) hydrocarbons. This organism is able to use dichloromethane as a sole carbon and energy source. Dichloromethane, an industrial solvent, is toxic and carcinogenic. This compound is water soluble and can easily contaminate groundwater. Methylobacterium chloromethanicum was isolated from soil at a petrochemical factory in Tatarstan, Russia. This organism is able to grow using chloromethane as the sole carbon and energy source.
Subject: NC_002932:296557 Chlorobium tepidum TLS, complete genome
Lineage: Chlorobaculum tepidum; Chlorobaculum; Chlorobiaceae; Chlorobiales; Chlorobi; Bacteria
General Information: This green-sulfur bacterium is a thermophile and was isolated from a New Zealand high-sulfide hot spring. Photosynthetic thermophile. Chlorobium tepidum is a member of the green-sulfur bacteria. It has been suggested that the green-sulfur bacteria were among the first photosynthetic organisms since they are anaerobically photosynthetic and may have arisen early in the Earth's history when there was a limited amount of oxygen present. This organism utilizes a novel photosynthetic system, and harvests light energy using an unusual organelle, the chlorosome, which contains an aggregate of light-harvesting centers surrounded by a protein-stabilized galactolipid monolayer that lies at the inner surface of the cytoplasmic membrane. Unlike many other photosynthetic organisms, the green-sulfur bacteria do not produce oxygen and tolerate only low levels of the molecule. This organism also fixes carbon dioxide via a reverse tricarboxylic acid cycle, using electrons derived from hydrogen or reduced sulfur to drive the reaction, instead of via the Calvin cycle like many other photosynthetic organisms.