Pc. Kadam et al., ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF METHANOLOBUS-BOMBAYENSIS SP-NOV, A METHYLOTROPHIC METHANOGEN THAT REQUIRES HIGH-CONCENTRATIONS OF DIVALENT-CATIONS, International journal of systematic bacteriology, 44(4), 1994, pp. 603-607
Methanolobus bombayensis B-1(T) (= OCM 438(T)) (T = type strain) was i
solated from Arabian Sea sediments obtained near Bombay, India. This s
train grew on methylamines, methanol, and dimethyl sulfide, but it did
not catabolize H-2-CO2, acetate, or formate. The cells were nonmotile
, irregular coccoids (diameter, 1.0 to 1.5 mu m) and occurred singly.
Electron micrographs revealed that a cell membrane and a protein cell
wall were present. The cells grew fastest at mesophilic temperatures,
at a neutral pH, and at salinity levels near the salinity level of the
ocean, and they required about 30 mM divalent cations (Mg2+ and Ca2+)
. The cells grew in mineral medium, but growth was greatly stimulated
by yeast extract and peptones. The guanine-plus-cytosine content of th
e DNA was 39.2 +/- 0.1 mol%. A comparison of 16S rRNA sequences showed
that strain B-1(T) was phylogenetically related to Methanolobus vulca
ni, but the sequences of these organisms differed by 2%.