Methylophaga thiooxydans (original) (raw)

Methylophaga thiooxydans is a methylotrophic bacterium that requires high salt concentrations for growth. It was originally isolated from a culture of the algae Emiliania huxleyi, where it grows by breaking down dimethylsulfoniopropionate from E. hexleyi into dimethylsulfide and acrylate. M. thiooxydans has been implicated as a dominant organism in phytoplankton blooms, where it consumes dimethylsulfide, methanol and methyl bromide released by dying phytoplankton. It was also identified as one of the dominant organisms present in the plume following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and was identified as a major player in the breakdown of methanol in coastal surface water in the English channel.