Methanosarcina barkeri

About: Methanosarcina barkeri is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 703 publications have been published within this topic receiving 32151 citations.

Physiological and molecular characterizations of the interactions in two cellulose-to-methane cocultures

Abstract: Background The interspecies interactions in a biomethanation community play a vital role in substrate degradation and methane (CH4) formation. However, the physiological and molecular mechanisms of interaction among the microbial members of this community remain poorly understood due to the lack of an experimentally tractable model system. In this study, we successfully established two coculture models combining the cellulose-degrading bacterium Clostridium cellulovorans 743B with Methanosarcina barkeri Fusaro or Methanosarcina mazei Go1 for the direct conversion of cellulose to CH4.

Investigation of the trophic relations between anaerobic microorganisms from an underground gas repository during methanol utilization

Abstract: Joint cultivation of the dominant strains of acetogenic, sulfate-reducing and methanogenic microorganisms isolated from water samples of the North Stavropol underground gas storage facility (UGSF) was carried out for revealing their probable trophic relationships. It was shown that acetogenic strains Eubacterium limosum AG12 and Sporomusa sphaeroides AG8-2 growing on methanol could form a considerable pool of hydrogen, which may support development of hydrogenotrophic cultures, the methanogen Methanobacterium formicicum MG134, or the sulfate reducer Desulfovibrio desulfuricans SR12. Growth of this sulfate-reducing strain was not stimulated under joint cultivation with Methanosarcina barkeri MGZ3 on methanol, probably due to its inability to take up low hydrogen concentrations observed during methanosarcina development. The results show that acetogens in the UGSF system are the most important consumers of methanol and hydrogen and after exhaustion of the latter and switching over to methanol utilization they can supply hydrogen to other microorganisms, including methanogens and sulfate reducers. The role of methanosarcina in the UGSF increases as the hydrogen and CO2 reserves are exhausted, and methanogenesis on methanol becomes the main way of its destruction.

5-Formyl-5,6,7,8-tetrahydromethanopterin is the intermediate in the process of methanogenesis in Methanosarcina barkeri.

Abstract: Formylmethanofuran:tetrahydromethanopterin (H4MPT) formyltransferase and 5,10-methenyl-H4MPT cyclohydrolase purified from Methanosarcina barkeri catalyze a formyl group transfer and the hydrolysis of the methenyl function, respectively. The results from UV spectroscopy and HPLC analyses, and comparison with results obtained with the enzymes isolated from Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum showed 5-formyl-H4MPT to be the product of the formyltransferase and cyclohydrolase reactions in M. barkeri. The findings disagree with an earlier report in which 10-formyl-H4MPT was identified as the product of the cyclohydrolase in the latter organism. In addition, it was observed that 10-formyl-H4MPT, which is non-enzymically formed from 5,10-methenyl-H4MPT at alkaline pH, becomes rapidly converted into the 5-formyl derivative. The latter finding explains why the nature of the formyl species previously had been improperly assigned.