skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: The genome of Methylobacillus flagellatus, the molecular basis forobligate methylotrophy, and the polyphyletic origin ofmethylotrophy

Journal Article · · Journal of Bacteriology

Along with methane, methanol and methylated amines representimportant biogenic atmospheric constituents, thus not only methanotrophs,but also non-methanotrophic methylotrophs play a significant role inglobal carbon cycling. The complete genome of a model obligate methanoland methylamine utilizer, Methylobacillus flagellatus (strain KT) wassequenced. The genome is represented by a single circular chromosome ofapproximately 3 Mb pairs, potentially encoding a total of 2,766 proteins.Based on genome analysis as well as the results from previous genetic andmutational analyses, methylotrophy is enabled by methanol- andmethylamine dehydrogenases, the tetrahydromethanopterin-linkedformaldehyde oxidation pathway, the assimilatory and dissimilatorybranches of the ribulose monophosphate cycle, and by formatedehydrogenases. Some of the methylotrophy genes are present in more thanone (identical or non-identical) copy. The obligate dependence on singlecarbon compounds appears to be due to the incomplete tricarboxylic acidcycle, as no genes potentially encoding alpha ketoglutarate, malate orsuccinate dehydrogenases are identifiable. The genome of M. flagellatuswas compared, in terms of methylotrophy functions, to the previouslysequenced genomes of three methylotrophs: Methylobacterium extorquens(Alphaproteobacterium, 7 Mbp), Methylibium petroleophilum(Betaproteobacterium, 4 Mbp), and Methylococcus capsulatus(Gammaproteobacterium, 3.3 Mbp). Strikingly, metabolically and/orphylogenetically, methylotrophy functions in M. flagellatus were moresimilar to the ones in M. capsulatus and M. extorquens than to the onesin the more closely related M. petroleophilum, providing the firstgenomic evidence for the polyphyletic origin of methylotrophy inBetaproteobacteria.

Research Organization:
COLLABORATION - U.Washington
DOE Contract Number:
DE-AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
927383
Report Number(s):
LBNL-62940; JOBAAY; R&D Project: 626882; BnR: KP1103010; TRN: US200811%%131
Journal Information:
Journal of Bacteriology, Vol. 189, Issue 11; Related Information: Journal Publication Date: June 2007; ISSN 0021-9193
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English