''Methanocalculus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of the

Methanomicrobiales In the alpha taxonomy, taxonomy of microorganisms, the Methanomicrobiales are an order (biology), order of the Methanomicrobia. ''Methanomicrobiales'' are strictly carbon dioxide redox, reducing methanogens, using hydrogen or formate as the redu ...

, and is known to include

methanogens Methanogens are microorganisms that produce methane as a metabolic byproduct in hypoxic conditions. They are prokaryotic and belong to the domain Archaea. All known methanogens are members of the archaeal phylum Euryarchaeota. Methanogens are comm ...

. The

genome In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, a genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding ge ...

of ''Methanocalculus'' is somewhat different from other genera of methanogenic

archaea Archaea ( ; singular archaeon ) is a domain of single-celled organisms. These microorganisms lack cell nuclei and are therefore prokaryotes. Archaea were initially classified as bacteria, receiving the name archaebacteria (in the Archaebac ...

, with less than 90%

16S ribosomal RNA 16 S ribosomal RNA (or 16 S rRNA) is the RNA component of the 30S subunit of a prokaryotic ribosome (SSU rRNA). It binds to the Shine-Dalgarno sequence and provides most of the SSU structure. The genes coding for it are referred to as 16S rRNA ...

similarity. The species within ''Methanocalculus'' also have a greater tolerance to salt than other

microorganism A microorganism, or microbe,, ''mikros'', "small") and ''organism'' from the el, ὀργανισμός, ''organismós'', "organism"). It is usually written as a single word but is sometimes hyphenated (''micro-organism''), especially in olde ...

s, and they can live at salt concentrations as high as 125 g/L. Some species within ''Methanocalculus'' are

neutrophile A neutrophile is a neutrophilic organism that thrives in a neutral pH environment between 6.5 and 7.5. Environment The pH of the environment can support growth or hinder neutrophilic organisms. When the pH is within the microbe's range, they g ...

s, and '' Methanocalculus natronophilus'', discovered in 2013, is a strict

alkaliphile Alkaliphiles are a class of extremophilic microbes capable of survival in alkaline ( pH roughly 8.5–11) environments, growing optimally around a pH of 10. These bacteria can be further categorized as obligate alkaliphiles (those that require high ...

Nomenclature

The name "Methanocalculus" has Latin roots: "methano" for

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane on Eart ...

and "calculus" for gravel. Overall, it means ''gravel-shaped organism that produces methane.''

Phylogeny

The currently accepted taxonomy is based on the

List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature (LPSN) is an online database that maintains information on the naming and taxonomy of prokaryotes, following the taxonomy requirements and rulings of the International Code of Nomenclature ...

(LPSN) and

National Center for Biotechnology Information The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) is part of the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), a branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It is approved and funded by the government of the United States. The ...

(NCBI).

References

External links

''Methanocalculus'' at Bac''Dive'' - the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase
Archaea genera Euryarchaeota {{Euryarchaeota-stub

Nomenclature

Phylogeny

See also

References

Further reading

Scientific journals

Scientific books

Scientific databases

External links