 It usually utilizes amino acids as the carbon source, but the series of studies discovered that the archaeon has a high degree of nutritional self-sufficiency.Also, in contrast to other alkaliphiles, which use sodium Na+ instead of protons H+ as coupling ion between respiratory chain and ATP synthase, "Natronomonas" uses protons as coupling ion.The archaeon grows under highly alkaline conditions of pH around 11, which causes reduced levels of ammonia in addition to low availability of metal ions.