''Methylocella silvestris'' is a bacterium from the genus ''Methylocella spp'' which are found in many acidic soils and wetlands.
Historically, ''Methylocella silvestris'' was originally isolated from acidic forest soils in Germany, and it is described as
Gram-negative
Gram-negative bacteria are bacteria that do not retain the crystal violet stain used in the Gram staining method of bacterial differentiation. They are characterized by their cell envelopes, which are composed of a thin peptidoglycan cell wall ...
, aerobic, non-pigmented, non-
motile
Motility is the ability of an organism to move independently, using metabolic energy.
Definitions
Motility, the ability of an organism to move independently, using metabolic energy, can be contrasted with sessility, the state of organisms th ...
, rod-shaped and
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 ...
-
oxidizing
Redox (reduction–oxidation, , ) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of substrate change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is the gain of electrons or a d ...
facultative
methanotroph
Methanotrophs (sometimes called methanophiles) are prokaryotes that metabolize methane as their source of carbon and chemical energy. They are bacteria or archaea, can grow aerobically or anaerobically, and require single-carbon compounds to s ...
.
As an aerobic methanotrophic bacteria, ''Methylocella spp'' use methane (CH
4), and methanol as their main carbon and energy source, as well as multi compounds acetate, pyruvate, succinate, malate, and ethanol.
They were known to survive in the cold temperature from 4° to 30° degree of Celsius with the optimum at around 15° to 25 °C, but no more than 36 °C. They grow better in the pH scale between 4.5 to 7.0.
It lacks intracytoplasmic membranes common to all methane-oxidizing bacteria except ''Methylocella'', but contain a
vesicular membrane system connected to the
cytoplasmic membrane
The cell membrane (also known as the plasma membrane (PM) or cytoplasmic membrane, and historically referred to as the plasmalemma) is a biological membrane that separates and protects the interior of all cells from the outside environment ( ...
. BL2
T (=DSM 15510
T=NCIMB 13906
T) is the type strain.
Phylogenetic
Dunfield ''et.al'' mentioned that ''Methylocella silvestris'' is close related with ''Methylocella palustris K
T, Beijerinckia indica'' ATCC 9039, and ''Methylocapsa acipihila'' B2
T in terms of its phylogenetic, which make ''M. silvestris'' classified as a type II methanotroph that utilize the serine cycle for their carbon assimilation, but it does not have a soluble methane monooxygenase (sMMO) and a propane monooxygenase (PrMO).
Genome
The genome of ''Methylocella silvestris'' is sequenced. ''Methylocella silvestris'' contains eight genes which can encode NAD(P)-dependent alcohol dehydrogenases (ADHs), pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ)-containing methanol dehydrogenase (Msil_0471) and a PQQ-containing ADH with 73% identity to ''xoxF'' from ''Methylobacterium extorquens'' (Msil_1587).
Chen ''et.al'' stated in their article that the genome size is 4.3 MbP, and has similarity to ''Proteobacteria.''
References
Further reading
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External links
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LPSNType strain of ''Methylocella silvestris'' at Bac''Dive'' - the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase
{{DEFAULTSORT:Methylocella silvestris
Beijerinckiaceae
Bacteria described in 2003