Emended description of Methylomonas rubra sp. nov

• Published in: Microbiology (New York) Vol. 75; no. 6; pp. 689 - 693
• Main Authors: Romanovskaya, V. A., Rokitko, P. V., Shilin, S. O., Malashenko, Yu. R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.12.2006
• Subjects: Methylomonas; Methylomonas rubra
• ISSN: 0026-2617; 1608-3237
• DOI: 10.1134/S0026261706060117

Strain Methylomonas rubra 15sh super(T), deposited in several collections of microorganisms (NCIMB11913 super(T), = UCM B-3075 super(T) = ACM 3303 super(T)), is the subject of numerous studies. However, the name of this strain is not valid, primarily due to the phenotypic similarity of t species M. rubra to the species M.methanica. The results of the present study and data available in the literature indicate that M. rubra deserves the status of a separate species. Strains of M. rubra differ from strains of M. methanica in a number of properties, such as the ability to reduce nitrates to nitrites, the structure of intracytoplasmic membranes, and the presence of a new coenzyme Q. The distinctions between the species M. rubra and M. methanica were confirmed by comparison of electrophoretic patterns of their cellular proteins, by results of DNA-DNA hybridization, and by the data from 16S rRNA gene sequencing (the level of phylogenetic homology between these two species was below 95%). Phylogenetic and phenotypic analyses showed that strains of M. rubra cannot be assigned to any species of the genus Methylomonas. Results of polyphasic analysis suggest an independent taxonomic status of strain Methylomonas rubra 15sh super(T). This paper contains description of Methylomonas rubra sp. nov. with the type strain 15sh super(T) = NCIMB 11913 super(T) = UCM B-3075 super(T) = ACM 3303 super(T). The nucleotide sequence of the 16S rRNA gene of strain 15sh super(T) has been deposited in the GenBank database under the accession number AY995198.