| Methanosarcina |
| Morphology | Methanosarcina |
| CELLULAR |
| Staining | Gram variable |
| Morphology | Irregular spheroid bodies (1-1000 um or more in diameter) occurring alone or typically in aggregates of cells. Some-times occur as large cysts with a common outer wall surrounding individual coccoid cells |
| Motility | Nonmotile. |
| Specialized structures | May contain gas vesicles Endospores not formed |
| Division |
| COLONIAL |
| Solid surface |
| Liquid |
| Growth Parameters | Methanosarcina |
| PHYSIOLOGICAL |
| Tropism | |
| Oxygen | Very strictly anaerobic |
| pH | |
| Temperature | Optimum growth temperatures are 30-40`C for mesophilic species and 50-55`C for thermophiles |
| Requirements | |
| Products | Energy metabolism via formation of methane from acetate, methanol, monomethylamine, dimethylamine, trimethylamine, H2-CO2 as sole energy substrate. N2 may be fixed |
| Enzymes | |
| Unique features |
| ENVIRONMENTAL |
| Habitat | |
| Lifestyle | |
| Pathogenicity |
| Distribution |
| Genome | Methanosarcina |
| G+C Mol % | 36-43 |
| Reference | Methanosarcina |
| First citation | Kluyver..A.J. and C.B. van Niel. 1936. Prospects for a natural system of classification of bacteria. Zentalbl. Bakteriol. Parasitenkd. Infektionskr. Hyg. Abt II 94: 369-403 |
| Emended | Mah, R.A. and D.A. Kuhn. 1984. Transfer of the type species of the genus Methanococcus to the genus Methanosarcina, naming it Methanosarcina mazei (Barker 1936) comb nov. et emend. and conservation of the genus Methanococcus (Approved Lists 1980) with Methanococcus vannieli (Approved Lists 1980) as the type species IJSB 34:263-265 |
| The Prokaryotes | |
| Bergey's Systematatic | p 2199 R. A. Mah and D. R. Boone |
| Bergey's Determinative | p 724 |
| References |