Methanobacterium omelianskii

Barker, H. A. (1940). Studies upon the methane fermentation. IV. The isolation and culture of Methanobacterium omelianskii. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, 6, 201-20. 

The source materials for methanogens to form methane are limited to one carbon (Q) compound except for acetate. Previously, Methanobacterium omelianskii was thought to form methane from ethanol (Barker, 1956). But the bacterium was a mixed culture of Methanobacterium bryantii and a bacterium which decomposed ethanol to form hydrogen gas (Bacterium S) (Bryant et al., 1967). Therefore, the... 

Anaerobic carbonate- reducing zone CH4 H2 Methanosarcina barkeri Methanobacterium omelianskii (symbiotic mixture of two bacterial types) CO2 + 8H CH4 + 2H2O CH3COOH CH4 -1- CO2 (methanogenic)... 

To date only five species of methane bacteria have been obtained in pure culture. M. vanniellii (5), Methanohacterium ruminantium (7), Methanobacterium mobilis (28), and Methanobacterium formicicum (21) grow on formate and ferment H2. The last species also ferments CO. The methanogenic symbiont of M. omelianskii, probably a variety of M. formicicum (29) grows only on H2 (16). Methanosarcina barkeri is iso-... 

Substrates which are precursors of methane in cell extracts are shown in Table I. These results were obtained with extracts of hydrogen-grown Methanobacterium (MOH). In contrast to earlier experiments with M. omelianskii, extracts of hydrogen-grown cells show greatest activity with CO2. When the relative abihty of these compounds to serve as... 

The remainder of this paper discusses the nutritional requirements of three strains of methane bacteria grown with H2-CO2 as energy source —i.e., M. ruminantium strains isolated from sludge and the rumen and Methanobacterium strain MOH isolated from M. omelianskii 14). The latter is believed to be related closely to M. formicicum, except that it does not ferment formate (25). M. formicicum and M. ruminantium utilize... 

---