A bacterial strain isoalted from the coccolithophorid Emiliania huxleyi. Methylophaga thiooxydans DMS010

Methylophaga thiooxydans DMS010. This strain was isolated from a culture of the marine dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP)-producing coccolithophorid Emiliania huxleyi after erichment on dimethyl sulfide (DMS). Similar isolates have been obtained from a range of DMS-enrichments inoculated with a range of coastal water samples, including seawater from the English Channel. Strain DMS010 grows on DMS, an atmospheric trace gas that has been suggested to act as a negative greenhouse gas (i.e. leading to climate cooling) and as such is an interesting model organism for further characterization by genome sequencing and postgenomic analysis and may provide important insights into the marine sulfur cycle and potential role of marine bacteria in climate regulation.