''Methylosphaera hansonii'', also called Antarctic budding methanotroph AM6, is a species of

psychrophilic Psychrophiles or cryophiles (adj. ''psychrophilic'' or ''cryophilic'') are extremophile, extremophilic organisms that are capable of cell growth, growth and reproduction in low temperatures, ranging from to . They are found in places that are pe ...

, group I

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, named after microbiologist Richard S. Hanson. It is non-motile, coccoidal in morphology, does not form resting cells, reproduces by constriction, and requires

seawater Seawater, or sea water, is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% (35 g/L, 35 ppt, 600 mM). This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has approximat ...

for growth. Its type strain is ACAM 549. The cells are round and 1.5–2.0 μm in diameter. They are

Gram-negative Gram-negative bacteria are bacteria that, unlike gram-positive bacteria, do not retain the crystal violet stain used in the Gram staining method of bacterial differentiation. Their defining characteristic is that their cell envelope consists ...

, non-motile, and strictly

aerobic Aerobic means "requiring air," in which "air" usually means oxygen. Aerobic may also refer to * Aerobic exercise, prolonged exercise of moderate intensity * Aerobics, a form of aerobic exercise * Aerobic respiration, the aerobic process of cellu ...

. They use

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 abundance of methane on Earth makes ...

and

methanol Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an organic chemical compound and the simplest aliphatic Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with the chemical formula (a methyl group linked to a hydroxyl group, often ab ...

as substrates to produce energy, and they can fix atmospheric nitrogen.

Nomenclature

The name has French and Greek roots. ''Methyl'' for its

methyl group In organic chemistry, a methyl group is an alkyl derived from methane, containing one carbon atom bonded to three hydrogen atoms, having chemical formula (whereas normal methane has the formula ). In formulas, the group is often abbreviated a ...

and ''sphaera'' for sphere. Overall the name means "methyl sphere."

References

External links

''Methylosphaera'' at LPSN
Gammaproteobacteria Psychrophiles Bacteria described in 1997 {{Gammaproteobacteria-stub

Nomenclature

References

Further reading

External links