There is evidence that methanol is consumed by Methylobacterium and contributes to the epiphytic fitness of the organism. However, in addition to the peak of methanol emission in the morning, Methylobacterium should adapt its metabolism to use additional carbon sources during the rest of the day when methanol emission is low or during the night when stomata are closed and methanol is consequently no longer available. 

 PPFMs are aerobic, Gram-negative bacteria and, although they are able to grow on a wide range of multicarbon substrates, they are characterized by the capability to grow on one-carbon compounds such as formate, formaldehyde, and methanol as their sole carbon and energy source. They are easily isolated on a methanol based mineral medium. Recently published data suggest that the degree of the plant–Methylobacterium association varies from strong, or symbiotic to loose, or epiphytic, a range that also includes the intermediate endophytic association. However, the overall nature of their relationship with plants is as yet poorly understood, and the biological significance of these bacterial species is still unknown. The use of leaf impressions on a methanol-agar medium has demonstrated the presence of pink-pigmented facultative methylotrophs in over 70 plant species.

These PPFMs are especially abundant on leaves of field-grown crops averagedabout106 cfu of PPFMs per leaflet, and typically >80% of the viable bacteria recovered from leaves were PPFMs. The occurrence of soil methylotrophs is probably related to the abundance of plant lignin and pectin in soils; these polymers are major potential sources of methanol.

The high diversity of species in the genus Methylobacterium is still not fully known and their vast distribution in natural habitat raises questions of whether the species are habitat specific or they play similar ecological role in different environments. To address these questions, a better understanding of the distribution of Methylobacterium strains between and within different ecosystems and analysis of Methylobacterium community compositions and dynamics in natural habitats are necessary. One of the best-characterized methylotrophs, both genetically and physiologically, is the methanol utilizing organism Methylobacterium extorquens AM1.