C1 BACTERIA IN THE WATER COLUMN OF CHESAPEAKE BAY, USA .3. IMMUNOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIPS OF THE TYPE SPECIES OF MARINE MONOMETHYLAMINE-OXIDIZING AND METHANE-OXIDIZING BACTERIA TO WILD ESTUARINE AND OCEANIC CULTURES
Jm. Sieburth et al., C1 BACTERIA IN THE WATER COLUMN OF CHESAPEAKE BAY, USA .3. IMMUNOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIPS OF THE TYPE SPECIES OF MARINE MONOMETHYLAMINE-OXIDIZING AND METHANE-OXIDIZING BACTERIA TO WILD ESTUARINE AND OCEANIC CULTURES, Marine ecology. Progress series, 95(1-2), 1993, pp. 91-102
C1 bacteria oxidizing methane and monomethylamine (MMA) are readily en
riched from seawater and associated marine materials, but only Methylo
monas pelagica oxidizing methane and Methylophaga marina oxidizing MMA
have been adequately characterized. Antisera with good specificity we
re prepared against these taxonomically and trophically different ocea
nic methylotrophs as well as against methanol dehydrogenase, a key enz
yme presumably present in all aerobic methylotrophs. These antisera we
re used in an indirect immunofluorescence procedure to compare the rel
ationship of these type oceanic species to wild-type cultures from the
estuarine waters of Chesapeake Bay (USA) and the open sea. Of the 32
methanotrophic enrichments attempted from the Sargasso Sea, 23 (72 %)
yielded methane-oxidizers. Of the 27 isolates obtained in pure culture
, 25 (96 %) were identical to Methlyomonas pelagica. By contrast, none
of the 54 estuarine methane-oxidizers from Chesapeake Bay were identi
cal to M pelagica, 13 % were related and 87 % were unrelated. The anti
-MDH (methanol dehydrogenase) serum reacted to 23 % of the wild methan
otroph cultures. Of the 18 oceanic methylaminotroph enrichments, 44 %
were indistinguishable from Methylophaga marina, 6 % were related, and
50 % were unrelated. In contrast, of the 41 Chesapeake Bay MMA-oxidiz
ers, 12 % were indistinguishable from M marina, 17 % were related, whi
le 71 % were unrelated. The anti-MDH antiserum reacted with only 15 %
of the wild MMA-oxidizing bacteria. The implications of the taxonomic
affinities and trophic requirements of the methylotrophs to their estu
arine and oceanic distribution and to their anaerobic methanogenic bac
terial consorts are discussed.