Sulfur-reducing bacteria are microorganisms able to reduce elemental sulfur (S0) to hydrogen sulfide (H2S). These microbes use inorganic sulfur compounds as electron acceptors to sustain several activities such as respiration, conserving energy and growth, in absence of oxygen. The final product of these processes, sulfide, has a considerable influence on the chemistry of the environment and, in addition, is used as electron donor for a large variety of microbial metabolisms. Several types of bacteria and many non-methanogenic archaea can reduce sulfur. Microbial sulfur reduction was already shown in early studies, which highlighted the first proof of S0 reduction in a vibrioid bacterium from mud, with sulfur as electron acceptor and H
2 as electron donor. The first pure cultured species of sulfur-reducing bacteria, Desulfuromonas acetoxidans, was discovered in 1976 and described by Pfennig Norbert and Biebel Hanno as an anaerobic sulfur-reducing and acetate-oxidizing bacterium, not able to reduce sulfate. Only few taxa are true sulfur-reducing bacteria, using sulfur reduction as the only or main catabolic reaction. Normally, they couple this reaction with the oxidation of acetate, succinate or other organic compounds. In general, sulfate-reducing bacteria are able to use both sulfate and elemental sulfur as electron acceptors. Thanks to its abundancy and thermodynamic stability, sulfate is the most studied electron acceptor for anaerobic respiration that involves sulfur compounds. Elemental sulfur, however, is very abundant and important, especially in deep-sea hydrothermal vents, hot springs and other extreme environments, making its isolation more difficult. Some bacteria – such as Proteus, Campylobacter, Pseudomonas and Salmonella – have the ability to reduce sulfur, but can also use oxygen and other terminal electron acceptors.
Desulfomonile tiedjei is a bacterium. It is anaerobic, dehalogenating, sulfate-reducing, Gram-negative, non-motile, non-spore-forming and rod-shaped. Its type strain is DCB-1.
Desulfovibrio sulfodismutans is a bacterium. It grows under strictly anaerobic conditions by disproportionation of thiosulfate or sulfite to sulfate and sulfide. ThAc01 is its type strain.
Fundidesulfovibrio putealis is a bacterium. It is sulfate-reducing. Its cells are motile by means of a polar flagellum and contain desulfoviridin. The type strain is B7-43T.
Desulfovibrio piezophilus is a bacterium. It is sulfate-reducing and piezophilic, hence its name. The type strain is C1TLV30(T).
Desulfovibrio paquesii is a bacterium. It is sulfate-reducing and hydrogenotrophic. The type strain is SB1(T).
Halodesulfovibrio marinisediminis is a sulfate-reducing bacterium. Its cells are vibrio-shaped, Gram-negative, motile rods with single polar flagella. The type strain is C/L2(T).
Desulfovibrio marrakechensis is a bacterium. It is sulfate-reducing and tyrosol-oxidising. Its cells are mesophilic, non-spore-forming, non-motile, Gram-negative, catalase-positive and straight-rod-shaped. They contain cytochrome c(3) and desulfoviridin. The type strain is EMSSDQ(4)(T).
Desulfovibrio carbinolicus is a bacterium. It is sulfate-reducing. Its cells are gram-negative, non-spore-forming, non-motile and curved. Its type strain is EDK82.
Desulfovibrio profundus is a bacterium. It is sulfate-reducing barophilic bacteria. It is strictly anaerobic, vibrio-shaped and its type strain is 500–1.
Desulfovibrio gracilis is a moderately halophilic bacteria. It is sulfate-reducing, mesophilic and motile. Its type strain is SRL6146T.
Desulfovibrio desulfuricans is a Gram-negative sulfate-reducing bacteria. It is generally found in soil, water, and the stools of animals, although in rare cases it has been found to cause infection in humans. It is particularly noted for its ability to produce methyl mercury. The reductive glycine pathway, a seventh route for organisms to capture CO2, was discovered in this species. Since these bacteria are killed by exposure to atmospheric oxygen, the environmental niches most frequently occupied by these bacteria are anaerobic. Desulfovibrio desulfuricans 27774 was reported to produce gene transfer agents.
Desulfovibrio aminophilus is a Gram-negative, mesophilic, non-spore-forming, amino acid degrading and sulfate-reducing bacterium from the genus of Desulfovibrio which has been isolated from an anaerobic lagoon from a dairy wastewater treatment plant in Santa Fe de Bogota in Colombia.
Desulfovibrio arcticus is a Gram-negative, psychrotolerant, sulfate-reducing and motile bacterium from the genus of Desulfovibrio with a single polar flagellum which has been isolated from water from permafrost from the Barents Sea.
Desulfovibrio biadhensis is a Gram-negative, non-spore-forming, anaerobic, mesophilic, slightly halophilic, sulfate-reducing and motile bacterium from the genus of Desulfovibrio which has been isolated from a thermal spring in Tunisia.
Desulfovibrio bizertensis is a weakly halotolerant, strictly anaerobic, sulfate-reducing and motile bacterium from the genus of Desulfovibrio which has been isolated from marine sediments from Tunisia.
Desulfovibrio burkinensis is a Gram-negative, non-spore-forming and sulfate-reducing bacterium from the genus of Desulfovibrio which has been isolated from soil from a ricefield in Burkina Faso in Africa.
Desulfovibrio capillatus is a Gram-negative and sulfate-reducing bacterium from the genus of Desulfovibrio which has been isolated from an oil field separator in the Gulf of Mexico.
Desulfoluna is a bacteria genus from the order Desulfobacterales.
Desulfatirhabdium butyrativorans is a Gram-negative, sulfate-reducing and butyrate-oxidizing bacterium from the genus of Desulfatirhabdium which has been isolated from anaerobic sludge in the Netherlands.
