Query: NC_012811:959725 Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 megaplasmid, complete sequence
Lineage: Methylobacterium extorquens; Methylobacterium; Methylobacteriaceae; Rhizobiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: First isolated in 1960 in Oxford, England, as an airborne contaminant growing on methylamine. This strain can grow on methylamine or methanol, but not methane. This organism is capable of growth on one-carbon compounds such as methanol. Methanol is oxidized to formaldehyde which is then used metabolically to generate either energy or biomass. These bacteria are commonly found in the environment, especially associated with plants which produce methanol when metabolizing pectin during cell wall synthesis. At least 25 genes are required for this complex process of converting methanol to formaldehyde and this specialized metabolic pathway is of great interest.
Subject: NC_010725:4035397 Methylobacterium populi BJ001, complete genome
Lineage: Methylobacterium populi; Methylobacterium; Methylobacteriaceae; Rhizobiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: This species was isolated from tissue cultures of Populus, the Poplar tree. Colonies are pink to red, and the red pigment is water insoluble. Species of the genus Methylobacterium are strictly aerobic, facultatively methylotrophic, Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacteria that are able to grow on one-carbon compounds (e.g. methanol or methylamine), as well as on a variety of C2, C3 and C4 substrates. Only the type species, Methylobacterium organophilum, has been shown to use methane as the sole source of carbon and energy. Members of the genus are distributed in a wide variety of natural and man-made environments, including soil, air, dust, fresh- and marine water and sediments, water supplies, bathrooms, air-conditioning systems and masonry, and some are opportunistic human pathogens.