Methanolobus profundi sp. nov., a methylotrophic methanogen isolated from deep subsurface sediments in a natural gas field

• Published in: International journal of systematic and evolutionary microbiology Vol. 59; no. 4; pp. 714 - 718
• Main Authors: Mochimaru, Hanako, Tamaki, Hideyuki, Hanada, Satoshi, Imachi, Hiroyuki, Nakamura, Kohei, Sakata, Susumu, Kamagata, Yoichi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Reading Soc General Microbiol 01-04-2009; Society for General Microbiology
• Subjects: Bacterial Typing Techniques; Bacteriology; Base Composition; Biological and medical sciences; Cluster Analysis; DNA, Bacterial - chemistry; DNA, Bacterial - genetics; DNA, Ribosomal - chemistry; DNA, Ribosomal - genetics; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Geologic Sediments - microbiology; Japan; Magnesium - metabolism; Methane - metabolism; Methanol - metabolism; Methanolobus; Methanolobus profundi; Methanosarcinaceae - classification; Methanosarcinaceae - genetics; Methanosarcinaceae - isolation & purification; Methanosarcinaceae - metabolism; Methylamines - metabolism; Microbiology; Miscellaneous; Molecular Sequence Data; Phylogeny; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; Sodium - metabolism; Systematics; Japan; Methanomicrobiales; Archaeobacteria; Taxonomy; Bacteria; Methanosarcinaceae; New species; Methanolobus; Sediments; Methylotrophy
• ISSN: 1466-5026; 1466-5034
• DOI: 10.1099/ijs.0.001677-0

1 Institute for Geo-Resources and Environment, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8567, Japan
2 Institute for Biological Resources and Functions, AIST, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8566, Japan
3 Subground Animalcule Retrieval Program, Extremobiosphere Research Center, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 237-0061, Japan
4 Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences, Gifu University, Yanagido, Gifu 501-1193, Japan
5 Research Institute of Genome-based Biofactory, AIST, Sapporo, Hokkaido 062-8517, Japan
CorrespondenceYoichi Kamagata y.kamagata{at}aist.go.jp
A mesophilic, methylotrophic methanogen, strain MobM T , was isolated from a natural gas field in Japan. Strain MobM T grew on methanol and methylamines, but not on H 2 /CO 2 , formate, acetate or dimethyl sulfide. The cells were motile, irregular cocci (diameter, 0.9–1.2 µm) and occurred singly, in pairs, as tetracocci or (occasionally) as aggregates. Strain MobM T grew at 9–37 °C (optimally at 30 °C) and at pH 6.1–7.8 (optimally at pH 6.5). Sodium and magnesium were required for growth, at 0.1–1.0 M Na + (optimally at 0.35 M) and 10–400 mM Mg 2+ (optimally at 15–25 mM). The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 42.4 mol%. 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed that the isolate is a member of the genus Methanolobus , but distinct from its closest neighbours, Methanolobus tindarius DSM 2278 T (sequence similarity, 98.0 %) and Methanolobus vulcani DSM 3029 T (98.1 %). On the basis of phenotypic and phylogenetic features of MobM T , it is clear that this strain represents a novel species of the genus Methanolobus , for which the name Methanolobus profundi sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is MobM T (=DSM 21213 T =NBRC 104158 T ).
The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession number for the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain MobM T is AB370245 .
A supplementary figure showing the effects of variations in temperature and salinity on the specific growth rate of strain MobM T is available with the online version of this paper.