Methyl chloride utilising bacteria are ubiquitous in the natural environment

Enrichment and isolation of methyl chloride utilising bacteria from a varie ty of pristine terrestrial, freshwater, estuarine and marine environments r esulted in the detection of six new methyl chloride utilising Hyphomicrobiu m strains, strain CMC related to Aminobacter spp. and to two previously iso lated methyl halide utilising bacteria CC495 and IMB-1, and a Gram-positive isolate SAC-4 phylogenetically related to Nocardioides spp. All the pristi ne environments sampled for enrichment resulted in the successful isolation of methyl chloride utilising organisms. (C) 2001 Federation of European Mi crobiological Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights rese rved.