HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kotelnikova, S. V. Articles by Popov, I. N. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Kotelnikova, S. V. Articles by Popov, I. N. Agricola Articles by Kotelnikova, S. V. Articles by Popov, I. N.

Taxonomic Analysis of Thermophilic Strains of the Genus Methanobacterium: Reclassification of Methanobacterium thermoalcaliphilum as a Synonym of Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum

¹Institute of Biochemistry and Physiology of Microorganisms, 142292, Pushchino, Moscow Region, Prospect Nauki, 5, Russia
²Universität Oldenburg, Fb7 Mikrobiologie, 2900 Oldenburg, Germany

^* Corresponding author.

ABSTRACT

DNA reassociation, a comparative analysis of whole-cell protein patterns, and indirect immunofluorescence methods were used to determine the taxonomic relationships of thermophilic Methanobacterium strains. On the basis of the results dendrograms showing degrees of similarity among the organisms were constructed. The organisms studied are members of three different groups. One group, whose members exhibit 10 to 40% cross-hybridization, includes Methanobacterium wolfeii, "Methanobacterium defluvium" ADZ, and "Methanobacterium thermoflexum" IDZ. The second group contains Methanobacterium thermophilum M^T (T = type strain) and Methanobacterium thermoaggregans (levels of DNA relatedness, 30 to 45%). The third group, whose members exhibit 65 to 99% cross-hybridization, includes Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum H^T, F-1, and DV; Methanobacterium thermoformicicum Z-245^T; and Methanobacterium thermoalcaliphilum AC60^T. The combination of three independent taxonomic methods showed that the group of strains studied is phenotypically, genotypically, and antigenically diverse. The most distinct organisms are M. wolfeii, M. thermoaggregans, M. thermophilum, "M. defluvium," "M. thermoflexum," and M. thermoautotrophicum. These species names should be adopted. The results of a DNA-DNA hybridization study (level of hybridization, 99%), an immunological analysis (+3 reaction), and a protein similarity study (level of similarity, 75%) indicate that M. thermoalcaliphilum should be reclassified as a synonym of M. thermoautotrophicum.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				Y. Luo, P. Pfister, T. Leisinger, and A. Wasserfallen The Genome of Archaeal Prophage {Psi}M100 Encodes the Lytic Enzyme Responsible for Autolysis of Methanothermobacter wolfeii J. Bacteriol., October 1, 2001; 183(19): 5788 - 5792. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]