Methanocaldococcus

Methanocaldococcus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Archaea
Kingdom: Methanobacteriati
Phylum: Methanobacteriota
Class: Methanococci
Order: Methanococcales
Family: Methanocaldococcaceae
Genus: Methanocaldococcus
Whitman 2002
Type species
Methanocaldococcus jannaschii
(Jones et al. 1984) Whitman 2002
Species

Methanocaldococcus formerly known as Methanococcus is a genus of coccoid methanogen archaea. They are all thermophiles, including M. infernus 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 archaean genome to be completely sequenced, revealing many novel and eukaryote-like elements.

Nomenclature

The name Methanocaldococcus has Latin and Greek roots, methano for methane, caldo for hot, and the Greek kokkos for the spherical shape of the cells. Overall, the name means spherical cell that produces methane at hot temperatures.

Metabolism

All species in Methanocaldococcus are obligate methanogens. They use hydrogen to reduce carbon dioxide. Unlike many other species within Euryarchaeota, they cannot use formate, acetate, methanol or methylamines as substrates.

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).

16S rRNA based LTP_07_2026 53 marker proteins based GTDB 11-RS232
Methanocaldococcus

M. villosus Bellack et al. 2011

M. indicus L'Haridon et al. 2003

M. infernus (Jeanthon et al. 1998) Whitman 2002

M. vulcanius (Jeanthon et al. 1999) Whitman 2002

M. lauensis L'Haridon et al. 2023

M. fervens (Jeanthon et al. 1999) Whitman 2002

M. bathoardescens Stewart et al. 2015

M. abyssi L'Haridon & Nesbø 2026

M. jannaschii (Jones et al. 1984) Whitman 2002 (type sp.)
Methanocaldococcus

M. fervens

M. bathoardescens

See also

References

  1. 1 2 C.L. Schoch. "Methanocaldococcus". National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) taxonomy database. Retrieved 2026-08-01.
  2. ↑ W.J. Jones; et al. (December 1983). "Methanococcus jannaschii sp. nov., an extremely thermophilic methanogen from a submarine hydrothermal vent". Arch. Microbiol. 136 (4): 254–261. Bibcode:1983ArMic.136..254J. doi:10.1007/BF00425213. S2CID 33277659.
  3. ↑ C.J. Bult; et al. (August 1996). "Complete genome sequence of the methanogenic archaeon, Methanococcus jannaschii". Science. 273 (5278): 1058–1073. Bibcode:1996Sci...273.1058B. doi:10.1126/science.273.5278.1058. PMID 8688087. S2CID 41481616.
  4. 1 2 David R. Boone; Richard W. Castenholz, eds. (2012-01-13). Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology. Vol. 1 (2 ed.). Nueva York: Springer Science and Business Media. p. 243. doi:10.1007/978-0-387-21609-6. ISBN 978-1-4419-3159-7. S2CID 41426624. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
  5. ↑ Methanocaldococcus in LPSN; Freese, H. M.; Meier-Kolthoff, J. P.; Sardà Carbasse, J.; Afolayan, A. O.; Göker, M. (2026). "TYGS and LPSN in 2025: a Global Core Biodata Resource for genome-based classification and nomenclature of prokaryotes within DSMZ Digital Diversity". Nucleic Acids Research. 54 (D1): D884–D891. doi:10.1093/nar/gkaf1110.
  6. ↑ "The LTPlus". The All-Species Living Tree Project. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  7. ↑ "LTP_all tree in newick format". The All-Species Living Tree Project. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  8. ↑ Rossello-Mora, Ramon; Viver, Tomeu; Palmer-Rodríguez, Pere; Westram, Ralf; Bustos-Caparros, Esteban; Gago, Joan Francisco; Gonzalez-Mendez, Jaime; Llabrés, Mercè; Ludwig, Wolfgang; Amann, Rudolf (22 April 2026). "A pipeline for improved 16S rRNA gene-based phylogeny and diversity analyses of Bacteria and Archaea". Nature Portfolio. doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-9370187/v1.
  9. ↑ "GTDB release 11-RS232". Genome Taxonomy Database. Retrieved 1 May 2026.
  10. ↑ "ar53_r232.sp_label". Genome Taxonomy Database. Retrieved 1 May 2026.
  11. ↑ "Taxon History". Genome Taxonomy Database. Retrieved 1 May 2026.

Further reading