Methylocella tundrae sp nov., a novel methanotrophic bacterium from acidic tundra peatlands

• Published in: International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology
• Main Authors: Dedysh, S., Berestovskaya, Y., Vasylieva, L., Belova, S., Khmelenina, V., Suzina, N., Trotsenko, Y., Liesack, W., Zavarzin, G.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2004
• Subjects: Tundra
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0007-C962-8

A novel species, Methylocella tundrae, is proposed for three methanotrophic strains (T4T, TCh1 and TY1) isolated from acidic Sphagnum tundra peatlands. These strains are aerobic, Gram-negative, non-motile, dinitrogen-fixing rods that possess a soluble methane monooxygenase and utilize the serine pathway for carbon assimilation. Strains T4T, TCh1 and TY1 are moderately acidophilic organisms capable of growth between pH 4.2 and 7.5 (optimum 5.5-6.0) and between 5 and 30 degrees C (optimum 15 degrees C). The major phospholipid fatty acid is 18:1omega7c. The DNA G+C content of strain T4T is 63.3 mol%. The three strains possess almost identical 16S rRNA gene sequences and are most closely related to two previously identified species of Methylocella, Methylocella palustris (97% similarity) and Methylocella silvestris (97.5% similarity). DNA-DNA hybridization values of strain T4T with Methylocella palustris KT and Methylocella silvestris BL2T were respectively 27 and 36%. Thus, the tundra strains represent a novel species, for which the name Methylocella tundrae sp. nov. is proposed. Strain T4T (=DSM 15673T=NCIMB 13949T) is the type strain.