RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 Gallego, Virginia A1 García, Maria Teresa A1 Ventosa, AntonioYR 2005 T1 Methylobacterium variabile sp. nov., a methylotrophic bacterium isolated from an aquatic environment JF International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, VO 55 IS 4 SP 1429 OP 1433 DO https://doi.org/10.1099/ijs.0.63597-0 PB Microbiology Society, SN 1466-5034, AB Strain GR3T was isolated from drinking water during a screening programme to monitor the bacterial population present in the distribution system of Seville (Spain), and it was studied phenotypically, genotypically and phylogenetically. This pink-pigmented bacterium was identified as a Methylobacterium sp. Members of this genus are distributed in a wide variety of natural habitats, including soil, dust, air, freshwater and aquatic sediments. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence showed that strain GR3T was closely related to Methylobacterium aquaticum (97·4 % sequence similarity), whereas sequence similarity values with respect to the rest of the species belonging to this genus were lower than 96 %. Furthermore, the DNA–DNA hybridization data and its phenotypic characteristics clearly indicate that the isolate represents a novel Methylobacterium species, for which the name Methylobacterium variabile sp. nov. is proposed. GR3T (=DSM 16961T=CCM 7281T=CECT 7045T) is the type strain; the DNA G+C content of this strain is 69·2 mol%., UL https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/ijsem/10.1099/ijs.0.63597-0