Open AccessA novel thermophilic methane‐oxidising γ‐ Proteobacterium
Author(s) -
Bodrossy Levente,
Kovács Kornél L.,
McDonald Ian R.,
Murrell J.Colin
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1999.tb13392.x
Subject(s) - thermophile , methane monooxygenase , methanotroph , hot spring , biology , strain (injury) , phylogenetic tree , methane , microbiology and biotechnology , bacteria , 16s ribosomal rna , anaerobic oxidation of methane , gene , biochemistry , genetics , ecology , paleontology , anatomy
A novel thermophilic methane‐oxidising bacterium was isolated from underground hot springs in Hungary. Strain HB grew on methane at up to 72°C, the highest recorded growth temperature for a methanotroph. 16S rDNA phylogenetic analysis showed that strain HB was the first known representative of a novel, deep‐branching group of the γ‐ Proteobacteria quite distinct from extant methanotrophs. The nucleotide sequence of pmoA , encoding particulate methane monooxygenase, was determined for this novel thermophile. Sequence comparison showed that the methane monooxygenase of this strain was most closely related to that of Methylocaldum and Methylococcus species. Particulate methane monooxygenase gene fragments having a high degree of identity to that of pmoA from strain HB were amplified by PCR from DNA isolated from thermophilic methane‐oxidising enrichments inoculated with hot spring samples (55–70°C) from Japan, suggesting that this novel genus, for which we informally suggest the name ‘ Methylothermus ’, is widespread in thermophilic environments.