Taxonomy
Family: Methylobacteriaceae

Natural habitat
They are isolated mostly from vegetation, but may also occasionally be found in the hospital enviroment.
Tap water has been implicated as a possible agent of transmission in hospital environment.

Methylobacterium species are a cause of health care-associated infections, including infections in immunocompromised hosts.
The ability of Methylobacterium to form biofilms and to develop resistance to high temperatures, drying, and desinfecting agents may explain the colonization of Methylobacterium in the hospital environment in e.g. endoscopes.
Due to its slow growth, it can be easily missed during microbiological surveillance of endoscope reprocessing.

They are able to utilize methanol as a sole source of carbon and energy, although this characteristic may be lost on subculture.

Clinical significance
They have been reported to cause septicemia, continous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis related peritonitis, skin ulcers, synovitis, and other infections often in immunocompromised patients, as well as pseudoinfections.