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Illustration rendered from curated morphology (shape, size, pili, motility) — not a micrograph. Drag to rotate, scroll to zoom.

Electrotroph · Methanogen hydrogenotrophic

Methanobacterium sp. strain YSL

Also known as Methanobacterium electrotrophus YSL

Methanobacteriota · Methanobacteria · Methanobacteriaceae

ElectroactiveEET inwardBSL-1Stub record
  • Methanogen
  • Archaea
  • Electrotroph
  • Non cytochrome EET
  • Tier 3
Inward
Electron transfer
electroactive
35°C
Optimal temperature
grows 25–40 °C
7
Optimal pH
grows pH 6.5–7.5

01 · Identity

Identity

Where this organism sits in the tree of life, how to obtain it, and what a cell looks like.

Lineage

  1. domainArchaea
  2. ›phylumMethanobacteriota
  3. ›classMethanobacteria
  4. ›orderMethanobacteriales
  5. ›familyMethanobacteriaceae
  6. ›genusMethanobacterium
  7. ›speciesMethanobacterium sp. YSL

Culture collections & accessions

Cell morphology

Rod · Archaeal pseudomurein

  • Motile: no

02 · Electron transfer

Electron transfer

How electrons cross the cell envelope — the property that makes a microbe useful in an electrochemical system.

ElectroactiveEET inward

No extracellular electron-transfer route is curated for this organism yet.

Mechanisms

  • Outer-membrane cytochromes: no

Direct transfer — detail

Notes
DIET-capable despite lacking outer-surface c-type cytochromes.

Other

Cathode electron uptake mechanism
Direct EET demonstrated

03 · Growth envelope

Growth envelope

The conditions this organism tolerates and what it eats and breathes — the operating window for a reactor.

MesophileObligate anaerobeChemolithoautotroph
Temperature35 (25–40) °C
0100 °C
pH7 (6.5–7.5)
014

Energy metabolism

Electron donors

  • H2
  • Cathode
  • Formate

Electron acceptors

  • CO2

Carbon sources

  • CO2

04 · Growth & electron-transfer kinetics

Growth & electron-transfer kinetics

How fast this organism grows and how hard it pushes electrons into an anode, as the corpus reports it, and what those constants imply when you run them.

Kinetic evidence

ParameterMedian10–90 %nSource
Max. specific growth rate μmax0.04 h⁻¹0.01–0.12genus prior · 0 refs
Half-saturation constant Ks10 mg/L1–501genus prior · 0 refs
Biomass yield Y0.03 g/g0.01–0.061genus prior · 0 refs
Decay coefficient kdNot in the corpus yet
Exchange current density i₀Not in the corpus yet
Transfer coefficient αNot in the corpus yet
Tafel slopeNot in the corpus yet

Median of the extracted values, the 10–90 % spread behind it and how many values it pools.

Evidence rows (0)

Genus-level prior: Methanobacterium spp.

A genus-level prior is a summary for the whole genus, not a measurement on this strain.

    Constants that drive the simulation

    Scenario — values you set, not evidence

    Initial substrate1000 mg/L
    Anode potential vs SHE0 V
    Duration72 h
    Initial attached biomass0.1 g/m²
    Anode area per liquid volume100 m²/m³
    Reactor mode

    Growth simulation

    Scenario: Initial substrate 1000 mg/L · Initial attached biomass 0.1 g/m² · Anode area per liquid volume 100 m²/m³ · Duration 72 h · Batch. Values you set, not evidence.

    0.4g/m²
    Peak biomass
    33.45h
    Time to 90 % substrate removal
    Attached biomassg/m²
    00.20.40204060h
    Bulk substratemg/L
    050010000204060h

    No current model

    The current needs Max. current density jmax, Half-saturation potential E_KA, which this source does not have.

    • Substrate-saturated growth
    • Slowing
    • Stationary

    Monod growth has no lag phase; the bands mark where the net growth rate is near its maximum, falling, near zero or negative.

    Simulator notes
    • decayPerH absent: no endogenous decay term, so growth is an upper bound
    • biofilmDensityKgPerM3 absent: thickness not computed (thicknessUm = null)
    • no anodePotentialVvsShe / overpotentialV given: current not computed (currentDensityAPerM2 = null)

    These curves are a Monod and Nernst-Monod idealisation (after Marcus et al. 2007 and Torres et al. 2008), parameterised only by the constants listed above: each one carries its n and its 10–90 % range, and a constant with n = 1 has no spread at all. No diffusion inside the biofilm, no detachment, no coulombic-efficiency split. The scenario values are yours, not evidence.

    05 · Performance

    Performance

    Reported electrochemical output, the role it plays in a reactor, and what it produces.

    Role in a reactor

    Cathode chamberCathode: primary product producer

    Products (1)

    ProductMax titerg/LMax rateCoulombic efficiency
    methane———

    06 · Ecology & biofilm

    Ecology & biofilm

    How it lives on an electrode, who it partners with, and where it is found in nature.

    Ecosystems

    • Engineered MES
    • Anaerobic digester

    07 · Applications, engineering & safety

    Applications, engineering & safety

    Where it has been put to work, how tractable it is to engineer, and what handling it requires.

    Applications (1)

    • Microbial electrosynthesis methane
      TRL 3/9

    Biosafety

    BSL-1
    • Pathogen: no

    08 · Sources & data quality

    Sources & data quality

    Every value above traces to a citation. This is how complete and how confident the record is.

    Record quality

    StubLow confidenceNeeds reviewCurated: manual

    Literature reviewed 2026-04-26 · schema v1.2.0 · updated 2026-04-28 · imported 2026-04-28

    Open data gaps (3)

    • Genome sequence
    • EET mechanism
    • Electrochemical performance metrics

    References (1)

    1. Beese-Vasbender PF, et al. (2015). Selective microbial electrosynthesis of methane by a pure culture of a marine lithoautotrophic archaeon.