Methanofollis is a genus of archaean in the family Methanomicrobiaceae.
Description and significance Methanofollis ("a methane-producing bag") is a non-motile, Gram-negative, obligately anaerobic, mesophilic archaeon that produces methane. It grows between the temperatures 20–45 °C (optimum 34–40 °C), and at the pH of around 7.
Genome structure The genome of the archaeon has not yet sequenced. The G + C content of the DNA is determined to be 60.0%.
Cell structure and metabolism The cells of Methanofollis are highly irregular cocci, with diameter of 1.25–2.0 μm. The major polar lipids are phospholipids, glycolipids, and phosphoglycolipids. It utilizes H2/CO2, formate, 2-propanol/CO2, and 2-butanol/CO2 for growth and methanogenesis. No growth has been observed on acetate, trimethylamine, methanol, ethanol, 2-propanol, isobutanol, or 2-butanol as catabolic substrates.
Ecology Most species of the archaeon are isolated from anaerobic high-rate wastewater bioreactors or solfataric fields. For example, M. tationis was isolated from a solfataric field on Mount Tatio in the Atacama desert in northern Chile.
Phylogeny The currently accepted taxonomy is based on the List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature (LPSN) and National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).
16S rRNA based LTP_07_2026 53 marker proteins based GTDB 11-RS232
See also List of Archaea genera
References
Further reading
External links Methanofollis at BacDive - the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase