The OM43 clade within the family Methylophilaceae of Betaproteobacteria represents a group of methylotrophs that play important roles in the metabolism of C 1 compounds in marine environments and other aquatic environments around the globe. Using dilution-to-extinction cultivation techniques, we successfully isolated a novel species of this clade (here designated MBRS-H7) from the ultraoligotrophic open ocean waters of the central Red Sea. Phylogenomic analyses indicate that MBRS-H7 is a novel species that forms a distinct cluster together with isolate KB13 from Hawaii (Hawaii-Red Sea [H-RS] cluster) that is separate from the cluster represented by strain HTCC2181 (from the Oregon coast). Phylogenetic analyses using the robust 16S-23S internal transcribed spacer revealed a potential ecotype separation of the marine OM43 clade members, which was further confirmed by metagenomic fragment recruitment analyses that showed trends of higher abundance in low-chlorophyll and/or high-temperature provinces for the H-RS cluster but a preference for colder, highly productive waters for the HTCC2181 cluster. This potential environmentally driven niche differentiation is also reflected in the metabolic gene inventories, which in the case of the H-RS cluster include those conferring resistance to high levels of UV irradiation, temperature, and salinity. Interestingly, we also found different energy conservation modules between these OM43 subclades, namely, the existence of the NADH:quinone oxidoreductase complex I (NUO) system in the H-RS cluster and the nonhomologous NADH:quinone oxidoreductase (NQR) system in the HTCC2181 cluster, which might have implications for their overall energetic yields. Methylotrophs are a taxonomically diverse group of microorganisms that use reduced one-carbon (C 1 ) compounds as their sole carbon and energy sources (1, 2). Unlike methanotrophs, non-methane-utilizing methylotrophs (here simply denoted methylotrophs) cannot oxidize methane but instead degrade more oxidized C 1 compounds, like methanol, methylamine, and formaldehyde, using different pathways for their oxidation, demethylation, and assimilation into biomass (1-3). Marine methylotrophs play an important role in the metabolism and assimilation of C 1 compounds like methanol and methylated compounds containing amino, halide, and/or sulfur moieties in the oceans (4).Many model methylotrophs have been cultured, which has facilitated studies on their genomic and functional characteristics and diversity (3). Among the marine methylotrophs, the OM43 clade belonging to the Betaproteobacteria occurs abundantly in productive aquatic environments from coastal waters to brackish and freshwater ecosystems (5, 6). The occurrence of close relatives of the marine OM43 clade in freshwater habitats, which form a closely related, but separate, lineage known as the LD28 clade (5, 7), also implies that OM43-like organisms have a broader biogeographical distribution. Surveys in the western Atlantic determined that OM43 clade members represented 5% of the b...

23 24 mtDNA recombination following hybridization is rarely found in animals and was never until 25

The SAR11 clade (Pelagibacterales) is a diverse group that forms a monophyletic clade within the Alphaproteobacteria, and constitutes up to one third of all prokaryotic cells in the photic zone of most oceans. Pelagibacterales are very abundant in the warm and highly saline surface waters of the Red Sea, raising the question of adaptive traits of SAR11 populations in this water body and warmer oceans through the world. In this study, two pure cultures were successfully obtained from surface waters on the Red Sea: one isolate of subgroup Ia and one of the previously uncultured SAR11 Ib lineage. The novel genomes were very similar to each other and to genomes of isolates of SAR11 subgroup Ia (Ia pan-genome), both in terms of gene content and synteny. Among the genes that were not present in the Ia pan-genome, 108 (RS39, Ia) and 151 genes (RS40, Ib) were strain specific. Detailed analyses showed that only 51 (RS39, Ia) and 55 (RS40, Ib) of these strain-specific genes had not reported before on genome fragments of Pelagibacterales. Further analyses revealed the potential production of phosphonates by some SAR11 members and possible adaptations for oligotrophic life, including pentose sugar utilization and adhesion to marine particulate matter.

Using dilution-to-extinction cultivation, we isolated a strain affiliated with the PS1 clade from surface waters of the Red Sea. Strain RS24 represents the second isolate of this group of marine Alphaproteobacteria after IMCC14465 that was isolated from the East (Japan) Sea. The PS1 clade is a sister group to the OCS116 clade, together forming a putatively novel order closely related to Rhizobiales. While most genomic features and most of the genetic content are conserved between RS24 and IMCC14465, their average nucleotide identity (ANI) is < 81%, suggesting two distinct species of the PS1 clade. Next to encoding two different variants of proteorhodopsin genes, they also harbor several unique genomic islands that contain genes related to degradation of aromatic compounds in IMCC14465 and in polymer degradation in RS24, possibly reflecting the physicochemical differences in the environment they were isolated from. No clear differences in abundance of the genomic content of either strain could be found in fragment recruitment analyses using different metagenomic datasets, in which both genomes were detectable albeit as minor part of the communities. The comparative genomic analysis of both isolates of the PS1 clade and the fragment recruitment analysis provide first insights into the ecology of this group.