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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SYSTEMATIC AND EVOLUTIONARY MICROBIOLOGY logo International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology

Volume 75, Issue 11

sp. nov. isolated from a coal mine biofilm in the high Arctic Svalbard Open Access

Abstract

An aerobic methanotroph was isolated from a biofilm of coal mine Gruve 7 (Svalbard) and designated strain G7. Cells of strain G7 were Gram-stain-negative, pink-pigmented and motile rods. Strain G7 could grow at pH 6.8 and at temperatures ranging from 4 to 21 °C. The genome size was 4.00 Mb with a (digital) DNA G+C content of 47.7 mol%. Strain G7 represents a member of the family of the class . It displayed 94.6–99.7% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to the type strains of the genus . Whole-genome comparisons based on average nucleotide identity (ANI) and digital DNA–DNA hybridization (dDDH) confirmed that strain G7 represents a novel species. It showed 16S rRNA gene identity of 99.7%, 91.8% ANI and 46% dDDH to the closest type strain, LS7-T4A, with ANI and dDDH being much lower than the typically used 95 and 70% cutoffs, respectively, to delineate different species. For methane activation, strain G7 carries genes encoding particulate methane monooxygenase (pmoCAB). Also, genes of the methane utilization pathways, i.e. oxidation of methane to carbon dioxide and assimilation of methane-carbon to biomass, were encoded in the genome. Strikingly, compared to all other spp. strains, strain G7 did not have nitrogenase genes for nitrogen fixation. Strain G7 also possessed genes for ectoine production, which was not observed in the genomes of its closest relatives. Based on phenotypic, genetic and phylogenetic data, strain G7 represents a novel species within the genus for which the name sp. nov. is proposed, with strain G7 (DSM: 117899; LMG: 33632) as the type strain.

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
  • Published Online:
Keyword(s): Arctic , coal mine , methane oxidation , methanotroph , Methylobacter and psychrotrophic
Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • Research Council of Finland (Award 353750)
    • Principal Award Recipient: NotApplicable
  • Research Council of Finland (Award 346751)
    • Principal Award Recipient: NotApplicable
  • Research Council of Norway (Award Living on Air 315129)
    • Principal Award Recipient: NotApplicable
  • Research Council of Norway (Award 191696/V49)
    • Principal Award Recipient: NotApplicable
© 2025 The Authors
  • This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. This article was made open access via a Publish and Read agreement between the Microbiology Society and the corresponding author’s institution.
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2025-11-28
2025-12-16

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Methylobacter arcticus sp. nov. isolated from a coal mine biofilm in the high Arctic Svalbard
Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 75, 006984 (2025); https://doi.org/10.1099/ijsem.0.006984
/content/journal/ijsem/10.1099/ijsem.0.006984
/content/journal/ijsem/10.1099/ijsem.0.006984
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