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Isolation of a methanogen from deep marine sediments that contain methane hydrates, and description of Methanoculleus submarinus sp. nov.

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Title Isolation of a methanogen from deep marine sediments that contain methane hydrates, and description of Methanoculleus submarinus sp. nov.
Names Mikucki, Jill A. (creator)
Liu, Yitai (creator)
Delwiche, Mark (creator)
Colwell, Fredrick (creator)
Boone, David R. (creator)
Date Issued 2003-06 (iso8601)
Abstract We isolated a methanogen from deep in the sediments of the Nankai Trough off the eastern coast of Japan.
At the sampling site, the water was 950 m deep and the sediment core was collected at 247 m below the sediment
surface. The isolated methanogen was named Nankai-1. Cells of Nankai-1 were nonmotile and highly irregular
coccoids (average diameter, 0.8 to 2 μm) and grew with hydrogen or formate as a catabolic substrate. Cells
required acetate as a carbon source. Yeast extract and peptones were not required but increased the growth
rate. The cells were mesophilic, growing most rapidly at 45°C (no growth at ≤10°C or ≥55°C). Cells grew with
a maximum specific growth rate of 2.43 day¯¹ at 45°C. Cells grew at pH values between 5.0 and 8.7 but did not
grow at pH 4.7 or 9.0. Strain Nankai-1 grew in a wide range of salinities, from 0.1 to 1.5MNa+. The described phenotypic
characteristics of this novel isolate were consistent with the in situ environment of the Nankai Trough.
This is the first report of a methanogenic isolate from methane hydrate-bearing sediments. Phylogenetic
analysis of its 16S rRNA gene sequence indicated that it is most closely related to Methanoculleus marisnigri
(99.1% sequence similarity), but DNA hybridization experiments indicated a DNA sequence similarity of only
49%. Strain Nankai-1 was also found to be phenotypically similar to M. marisnigri, but two major phenotypic
differences were found: strain Nankai-1 does not require peptones, and it grows fastest at a much higher temperature.
We propose a new species, Methanoculleus submarinus, with strain Nankai-1 as the type strain.
Genre Article
Identifier Boone, D. R., Colwell, F. S., Delwiche, M., Liu, Y., and Mikucki, J. A., (2003). Isolation of a methanogen from deep marine sediments that contain methane hydrates, and description of Methanoculleus submarines sp. nov. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 69(6), 3311-3316.

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