A novel denitrifying methanotroph of the NC10 phylum and its microcolony

The NC10 phylum is a candidate phylum of prokaryotes and is considered important in biogeochemical cycles and evolutionary history. NC10 members are as-yet-uncultured and are difficult to enrich, and our knowledge regarding this phylum is largely limited to the first species 'Candidatus Methylomirabilis oxyfera' (M. oxyfera). Here, we enriched NC10 members from paddy soil and obtained a novel species of the NC10 phylum that mediates the anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) coupled to nitrite reduction. By comparing the new 16S rRNA gene sequences with those already in the database, this new species was found to be widely distributed in various habitats in China. Therefore, we tentatively named it 'Candidatus Methylomirabilis sinica' (M. sinica). Cells of M. sinica are roughly coccus-shaped (0.7-1.2 μm), distinct from M. oxyfera (rod-shaped; 0.25-0.5 × 0.8-1.1 μm). Notably, microscopic inspections revealed that M. sinica grew in honeycomb-shaped microcolonies, which was the first discovery of microcolony of the NC10 phylum. This finding opens the possibility to isolate NC10 members using microcolony-dependent isolation strategies.