Abstract
Me.tha.no.tri.cha.ce'ae. N.L. fem. n.
Methanothrix
type genus of the family; suff. –
aceae
ending to denote a family; N.L. fem. pl. n.
Methanotrichaceae
the
Methanothrix
family.
Sheathed, rod‐shaped cells with flat ends, usually 0.8–1.3 μm wide by 2.0–6.0 μm long. Nonmotile. Gram‐stain‐negative. Oxygen‐tolerant anaerobe. Slow‐growing organotrophic, splitting acetate into methane and CO
2
for energy generation. Some strains split formate into hydrogen and CO
2
without generating methane. CO
2
can be reduced into methane when cocultured with electrogenic
Geobacter
spp. via direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET). Lipids contain
myo
‐inositol, ethanolamine, and galactose as the polar head groups. Genome sequences have been determined for all described species.
Habitats
: Widely distributed in anaerobic river mud, paddy field soil, hot springs, thermal lakes, thermophilic and mesophilic anaerobic wastewater digestors treating domestic wastes, granular sludge, anaerobic fixed‐bed reactors, and other types of anaerobic systems.
DNA G + C content (mol%)
: 51–61 (Genome).
Type genus
:
Methanothrix
Huser et al. 1982, VL10.
Taxonomic and Nomenclature Notes
According to the List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature (LPSN), the taxonomic status of the family
Methanotrichaceae
is: correct name (last update, February 2025)
*
.
LPSN classification:
Archaea
/
Methanobacteriati
/
Methanobacteriota
/
Methanosarcinia
/
Methanosarcinales
/
Methanotrichaceae
The family
Methanotrichaceae
can also be recovered in the Genome Taxonomy Database (GTDB) as
f__Methanotrichaceae
(version v220)
**
.
GTDB classification:
d__Archaea
/
p__Halobacteriota
/
c__Methanosarcinia
/
o__Methanotrichales
/
f__Methanotrichaceae
*
Meier‐Kolthoff
et al. (
2022
).
Nucleic Acids Res
,
50
,
D801
–
D807
; DOI:
10.1093/nar/gkab902
**
Parks
et al. (
2022
).
Nucleic Acids Res
,
50
,
D785
–
D794
; DOI:
10.1093/nar/gkab776