''Methanococcus'' is a
genus of
coccoid
Coccoid means shaped like or resembling a coccus, that is, spherical.The noun coccoid or coccoids may refer to:
* a level of organization, characterized by unicellular, non-flagellated, non-amoeboid organisms, with a definite shape, in general b ...
methanogen
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 com ...
s of the family
Methanococcaceae. They are all
mesophile
A mesophile is an organism that grows best in moderate temperature, neither too hot nor too cold, with an optimum growth range from . The optimum growth temperature for these organisms is 37°C. The term is mainly applied to microorganisms. Organi ...
s, except the
thermophilic ''
M. thermolithotrophicus'' and the
hyperthermophilic ''
M. jannaschii''. The latter was discovered at the base of a “white smoker” chimney at 21°
N on the
East Pacific Rise and it was the first
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 ...
l
genome to be completely sequenced, revealing many novel and
eukaryote
Eukaryotes () are organisms whose cells have a nucleus. All animals, plants, fungi, and many unicellular organisms, are Eukaryotes. They belong to the group of organisms Eukaryota or Eukarya, which is one of the three domains of life. Bacte ...
-like elements.
Phylogeny
The currently accepted taxonomy is based on the
List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature (LPSN) and
National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).
See also
*
List of Archaea genera
This article lists the genera of the Archaea. The currently accepted taxonomy is based on the List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature (LPSN) and National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).
Phylogeny
National Center for ...
References
Further reading
Scientific journals
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Scientific books
Scientific databases
External links
Archaea genera
Euryarchaeota
{{Euryarchaeota-stub