Beijerinckia indica is an aerobic, acidophilic soil bacterium than fixes nitrogen and produces copious exopolysaccharide material. It is phylogenetically closely related to members of the genera Methylocella and Methylocapsa. These are highly specialized bacteria that grow primarily on methane, methanol and other one-carbon compounds, whereas Beijerinckia indica is a broad-spectrum chemoorganotroph that does not oxidize methane or methanol. By comparing the genome of Beijerinckia indica to genomes of closely related methanotrophs, insight may be gained into the evolution of methanotrophy as a metabolic lifestyle, and into the genomic tradeoffs required for a specialist methanotrophic lifestyle compared to a more generalist chemoorganotrophic lifestyle. Some strains of Beijerinckia also degrade aromatic compounds, and may be of use in petroleum purification or bioremediation.