Methylobacterium extorquens is a Gram-negative bacterium. Methylobacterium often appear pink, and are classified as pink-pigmented facultative methylotrophs, or PPFMs.[2] The wild type has been known to use both methane and multiple carbon compounds as energy sources.[2] Specifically, M. extorquens has been observed to use primarily methanol and C1 compounds as substrates in their energy cycles.[3]
Genetic structure
After isolation from soil, M. extorquens was found to have a single chromosome measuring 5.71-Mb.[4] The bacterium itself contains 70 genes over eight regions of the chromosome that are used for its metabolism of methanol.[5] Within a section of the chromosome, of M. extorquens AM1 are two xoxF genes that enable it to grow in methanol.[6]
M. extorquens AM1 genome encodes a 47.5 kb gene of unknown function. This gene encodes an over 15,000 residue-long polypeptide along with three unique compounds that are not expressed.[7] The microbe uses the mxa gene[8] as a way to dehydrogenate methanol and use it as an energy source.[7]
Chemical use
Methylobacterium extorquens uses primarily C1 and C2 compounds to grow.[9] Utilizing compounds with few carbon-carbon bonds allows the bacterium to successfully grow in environments with methanol, such as on the surface of leaves whose stomata emit methanol.[10] The ability to use methanol as both a carbon and energy source was show to be advantageous when colonizing Medicago truncatula.[11]
H4MPT-dependent formaldehyde oxidation was first isolated in M. extroquens AM1 and has been used to define if an organism is utilizing methylotrophic metabolism.[7]
Relationships with other organisms
Many bacteria within the Methylobacterium genus live in different biotic environments such as soils, dust, and plant leaves.[12] Some of these bacteria have been found in symbiotic relationships with the plants they inhabit in which they provide fixed nitrogen or produce vitamin B12.[13] M. extroquens also produces PhyR which plants use to regulate stress response, allowing the plant to survive in different conditions.[14] In addition to PhyR, the bacterium can produce a hormone related to overall plant and root growth.[15]
M. extroquens has been found having a mutualistic relationship with strawberries.[16] Ultimately, M. extroquens is used to oxidize 1,2-propanediol to lactaldehyde, which is later used in chemical reactions.[17] If introduced to blooming plants, furaneol production increases, changing the way the strawberry tastes.
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