A methanogenic organism, designated strain HB-1T, from the domain Archaea was isolated from groundwater sampled from a subsurface Miocene formation located in Horonobe, Hokkaido, Japan. The strain grew on methanol, dimethylamine, trimethylamine, dimethylsulfide and acetate but not on monomethylamine, H2/CO2, formate, 2-propanol, 2-butanol or cyclopentanol. Cells were Gram-reaction-negative, non-motile, irregular cocci that were 1.4–2.9 µm in diameter and occurred singly or in pairs. The strain grew at 20–42 °C (optimum 37 °C), at pH 6.0–7.75 (optimum pH 7.0–7.25) and in 0–0.35 M NaCl (optimum 0.1 M). The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 41.4 mol%. 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed that the strain was a member of the genus Methanosarcina but that it clearly differed from all recognized species of this genus (93.1–97.9 % sequence similarity). The phenotypic and phylogenetic features of strain HB-1T indicate that it represents a novel species of the genus Methanosarcina, for which the name Methanosarcina horonobensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is HB-1T ( = DSM 21571T = JCM 15518T = NBRC 102577T).
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Funding
This study was supported by the:
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan
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