Methylicorpusculum oleiharenae gen. nov., sp. nov., an aerobic methanotroph isolated from an oil sands tailings pond

Abstract

An aerobic methane oxidizing bacterium, designated XLMV4 T , was isolated from the oxic surface layer of an oil sands tailings pond in Alberta, Canada. Strain XLMV4 T is capable of growth on methane and methanol as energy sources. NH 4 Cl and sodium nitrate are nitrogen sources. Cells are Gram-negative, beige to yellow-pigmented, motile (via a single polar flagellum), short rods 2.0-3.3 µm in length and 1.0-1.6 µm in width. A thick capsule is produced. Surface glycoprotein or cup shape proteins typical of the genera Methylococcus, Methylothermus and Methylomicrobium were not observed. Major isoprenoid quinones are Q-8 and Q-7 at an approximate molar ratio of 71 : 22. Major polar lipids are phosphoglycerol and ornithine lipids. Major fatty acids are C 16 : 1 ω8+C 16 : 1 ω7 (34 %), C 16 : 1 ω5 (16 %), and C 18 : 1 ω7 (11 %). Optimum growth is observed at pH 8.0 and 25 °C. The DNA G+C content based on a draft genome sequence is 46.7 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA genes and a larger set of conserved genes place strain XLMV4 T within the class Gammaproteobacteria and family Methylococcaceae, most closely related to members of the genera Methylomicrobium and Methylobacter (95.0-97.1 % 16S rRNA gene sequence identity). In silico genomic predictions of DNA-DNA hybridization values of strain XLMV4 T to the nearest phylogenetic neighbours were all below 26 %. On the basis of the data presented, strain XLMV4 T is considered to represent a new genus and species for which the name Methylicorpusculum oleiharenae is proposed. Strain XLMV4 T (=DSMZ DSM 27269=ATCC TSD-186) is the type strain.

Global co‐occurrence of methanogenic archaea and methanotrophic bacteria in Microcystis aggregates

“…3A). The latter unclassified OTU was found to be most similar (99.3%) to a strain of the very recently defined novel genus Methylicorpusculum from an oil sands tailings pond (Saidi‐Mehrabad et al ., 2020). In Lac de Villerest, the genus Crenothrix , with remarkably high relative abundance, up to 2.38%, outnumbered the other genera (Fig.…”

“…S9) (Yang et al ., 2017; Kim et al ., 2019; Jankowiak and Gobler, 2020) and many MOB lineages having N 2 ‐fixation potential (Auman et al ., 2001), could increase N availability to Microcystis . Possible methanotrophic taxa could include members from the abundant genera Crenothrix (Oswald et al ., 2017), Methyloglobus (Deutzmann et al ., 2014a), Methylicorpusculum (Saidi‐Mehrabad et al ., 2020), and also ubiquitous genera such as Methylobacter (Kalyuzhnaya et al ., 2015; Flynn et al ., 2016), Methylomonas (Hoefman et al ., 2014a; Kalyuzhnaya et al ., 2015), and Methylocystis (Whittenbury et al ., 1970; Bowman et al ., 1993). O 2 ‐depleted microzones are usually required for facilitating N 2 ‐fixation in cyanobacterial aggregates (Paerl and Bebout, 1988; Paerl and Pinckney, 1996).…”

“…Likewise, the presence of anoxic or suboxic microzones could help us understand the occurrence of previously reported aggregate‐associated denitrifying bacteria (Yang et al ., 2017; Jankowiak and Gobler, 2020). Many of the MOB genera found here are also known to contain genes encoding enzymes involved in denitrification (Hoefman et al ., 2014b; Smith et al ., 2018; Saidi‐Mehrabad et al ., 2020) and methane oxidation coupled to denitrification occurs in type I MOB under hypoxia (Kits et al ., 2015a, b). Crenothrix and Methylobacter probably take advantage of denitrification to grow within the oxygen‐deficient water column (Oswald et al ., 2017; van Grinsven et al ., 2020).…”

Methylotrophy, alkane-degradation, and pigment production as defining features of the globally distributed yet-uncultured phylum Binatota

“…In photosynthetic organisms, carotenoids increase the efficiency of photosynthesis by absorbing in the blue-green region then transferring the absorbed energy to the light-harvesting pigments 80 . Carotenoid production also occurs in a wide range of nonphotosynthetic bacteria belonging to the Alpha-, Beta, and Gamma-Proteobacteria (including methano-and methylotrophs 81 ), Bacteroidetes 82 , Deinococcus 83 , Thermus 84 , Delta-Proteobacteria 85 , Firmicutes 86 , Actinobacteria 87 , Planctomycetes 88 , and Archaea, e.g.…”

Methylotrophy, alkane-degradation, and pigment production as defining features of the globally distributed yet-uncultured phylum Binatota

“…In photosynthetic organisms, carotenoids increase the e ciency of photosynthesis by absorbing in the blue-green region then transferring the absorbed energy to the light-harvesting pigments 80 . Carotenoid production also occurs in a wide range of non-photosynthetic bacteria belonging to the Alpha-, Beta, and Gamma-Proteobacteria (including methano-and methylotrophs 81 ), Bacteroidetes 82 , Deinococcus 83 , Thermus 84 , Delta-Proteobacteria 85 , Firmicutes 86 , Actinobacteria 87 , Planctomycetes 88 , and Archaea, e.g. Halobacteriaceae 89 , and Sulfolobus 90 .…”