A novel gammaproteobacterial methanotroph from Methylococccaeae; strain FWC3, isolated from canal sediment from Western India

We isolated a gammaproteobacterial methanotrophic strain FWC3, from canal sediment from Western India. The strain oxidizes methane and can also grow on methanol. The draft genome of the same was sequenced which showed a size of [~]3.4 Mbp and 63% GC content. FWC3 is a coccoid, pale pink pigmented methanotroph and is seen in the form of diplococci, triplets, tetrads or small aggregates. After comparison of the complete 16S rRNA gene sequence, average amino-acid similarities and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values with that of the neighboring type species, we propose that the strain belongs to a novel genus and species, Ca. Methylolobus aquaticus FWC3Ts.