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

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 H₂/CO₂, 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 Mg²⁺ (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).

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.