In
taxonomy, the Methanosarcinales are an
order of the
Methanomicrobia.
Large amounts of methane are produced in
marine sediments but are then consumed before contacting aerobic waters or the atmosphere. Although no organism that can consume methane anaerobically has ever been isolated, biogeochemical evidence indicates that the overall process involves a transfer of electrons from methane to sulphate and is probably mediated by several organisms, including a
methanogen (operating in reverse) and a sulfate-reducer (using an unknown intermediate substrate).
Organisms placed within the order can be found in freshwater, saltwater, salt-rich sediments, laboratory digestors, and animal digestive systems. Most cells have
cell walls that lack
peptidoglycan
Peptidoglycan or murein is a unique large macromolecule, a polysaccharide, consisting of sugars and amino acids that forms a mesh-like peptidoglycan layer outside the plasma membrane, the rigid cell wall (murein sacculus) characteristic of most ba ...
and
pseudomurein
Pseudopeptidoglycan (also known as pseudomurein;White, David. (1995) ''The Physiology and Biochemistry of Prokaryotes'', pages 6, 12-21. (Oxford: Oxford University Press). . PPG hereafter) is a major cell wall component of some Archaea that differs ...
. They are strictly anaerobic and survive by producing
methane. Some species use
acetate as a substrate and others use methyl compounds, such as methyl amines and methyl sulfates.
Phylogeny
See also
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List of Archaea genera
References
Further reading
Scientific journals
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Scientific books
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Version 5.0
Scientific databases
External links
Archaea taxonomic orders
Euryarchaeota
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