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Abstract

Abstract Me.thy.lo.pa.ra.coc'cus. N.L. neut. n. methylum methyl; N.L. pref. methylo‐ pertaining to the methyl radical; Gr. prep. para, beside, alongside of, near, like; N.L. masc. n. coccus (from Gr. n. kokkos), a grain or berry; N.L. masc. n. Methyloparacoccus referring to a methyl‐using organism resembling but clearly different from other methyl‐using cocci. Proteobacteria / Gammaproteobacteria / Methylococcales / Methylococcaceae / Methyloparacoccus Cells are aerobic, Gram‐negative, nonmotile coccoids, 0.8–1.5 µm in diameter. Cells occur singly with a diplococcoid tendency. Reproduce by normal cell division. Resting stages are not observed. Obligate utilizers of methane and methanol as sole carbon and energy sources. Methane is oxidized by a particulate methane monooxygenase (pMMO); the soluble methane monooxygenase (sMMO) and the alternative particulate monooxygenase (pXMO) are absent. Cells possess the typical intracytoplasmic membrane system for gammaproteobacterial methanotrophs forming bundles of membrane vesicles. No growth occurs on compounds containing carbon–carbon bonds. Atmospheric nitrogen is not fixed. Cells are neutrophilic, growing between pH 5.8 and 9, with an optimal pH of 6.3–6.8 and mesophilic, nonthermotolerant, growing between 20 and 37°C, optimal growth temperature 25–33°C. The dominant cellular fatty acids are C16:1 ω7c (52–54%) and C16:0 (24–25%). So far only isolated from pond water in Africa and Japan. Belongs to the Gammaproteobacteria as part of the order Methylococcales, family Methylococcaceae. DNA G + C content (mol%): 65.6 (Tm). Type species: Methyloparacoccus murrellii Hoefman, van der Ha, Iguchi, Yurimoto, Sakai, Boon, Vandamme, Heylen and De Vos, 2014b, 2105VP.