Hyphomicrobium chloromethanicum sp. nov. and Methylobacterium chloromethanicum sp. nov., chloromethane-utilizing bacteria isolated from a polluted environment.

Two chloromethane-utilizing facultatively methylotrophic bacteria, strains CM2T and CM4T, were isolated from soil at a petrochemical factory. On the basis of their morphological, physiological and genotypical properties, strain CM2T (= VKM B-2176T = NCIMB 13687T) is proposed as a new species of the genus Hyphomicrobium, Hyphomicrobium chloromethanicum, and strain CM4T (= VKM B-2223T = NCIMB 13688T) as a new species of the genus Methylobacterium, Methylobacterium chloromethanicum.