General Information: This strain was isolated from intertidal sediments. Methanococcus maripaludis is a rapid growing hydrogenotrophic methanoarchaeon common in salt marshes, marine and estuarine environments in the Southeastern U.S.A. Methanococcus maripaludis is an obligately anaerobic, mesophilic, methane-producing archaeon. Growth on hydrogen and carbon dioxide results in the production of methane as a waste product. M. maripaludis stands out among methanogenic archaea as an ideal model species because of fast reproducible growth and effective genetic tools.