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.
The Alicyclobacillaceae are a family of Gram-positive bacteria. All members of this family are aerobic and form endospores.
Polynucleobacter is a genus of bacteria, originally established by Heckmann and Schmidt (1987) to exclusively harbor obligate endosymbionts of ciliates belonging to the genus Euplotes.
Marinitoga piezophila is a species of rod-shaped, thermo-piezophilic bacteria. It is, anaerobic, chemo-organotrophic, sulfur-reducing, motile, have a mean length of 1-1.5 micrometres and stains Gram-negative. The type strain is KA3T.
Roseomonas alkaliterrae is a species of Gram negative, strictly aerobic, coccobacilli-shaped, pink-colored bacteria. It was first isolated from the soil around a geothermal hot spring in Tengchong, China. The species name refers to the alkaline soil from which the species was first isolated.
Alicyclobacillus contaminans is a species of Gram positive, strictly aerobic, bacterium. The bacteria are acidophilic and produce endospores. It was first isolated during a survey from both orange juice, and soil in Fuji City, Japan. The species was first described in 2007, and the name is derived from the Latin contaminans (contaminating).
Alicyclobacillus fastidiosus is a species of Gram positive, strictly aerobic, bacterium. The bacteria are acidophilic and produce endospores. It was first isolated from apple juice. The species was first described in 2007, and the name refers to the fastidious nature of the organism; the bacteria would start to die off after 7 days when plated on typical agar for isolating Alicyclobacillus. Additionally, the species produced fewer spores than other members of its genus, and took much longer to produce the spores.
Alicyclobacillus kakegawensis is a species of Gram positive, strictly aerobic, bacterium. The bacteria are acidophilic and produce endospores. It was first isolated from soil in Kakegawa, Japan. The species was first described in 2007, and the named after the city from which it was first isolated.
Alicyclobacillus macrosporangiidus is a species of Gram positive, strictly aerobic, bacterium. The bacteria are acidophilic and produce endospores. It was first isolated from soil in a crop field in Fujieda, Japan. The species was first described in 2007, and the name is derived from the Latin macros (big) and sporangium (sporangia), referring to the large spores produced by the organism.
Alicyclobacillus sacchari is a species of Gram positive, strictly aerobic, bacterium. The bacteria are acidophilic and produce endospores. It was first isolated from liquid sugar. The species was first described in 2007, and the name is derived from the Latin sacchari.
Alicyclobacillus shizuokensis is a species of Gram positive, strictly aerobic, bacterium. The bacteria are acidophilic and produce endospores. It was first isolated from soil in a crop field in Shizuoka, Japan. The species was first described in 2007, and the name refers to the city from which it was first isolated.
Alicyclobacillus herbarius is a species of Gram positive, strictly aerobic, bacterium. The bacteria are acidophilic and produced endospores. It was first isolated from a hibiscus-based herbal tea. The species was first described in 2002, and the name refers to the herbal tea from which it was first isolated.
Alicyclobacillus tengchongensis is a species of Gram positive, strictly aerobic, bacterium. The bacteria are acidophilic and produced endospores. It was first isolated from soil in a hot spring in Tengchong, China. The species was first described in 2014, and the name refers to the city from which it was first isolated.
Kribbia dieselivorans is a species of Gram positive, nonmotile, non-sporeforming bacteria. The bacteria are facultatively anaerobic and mesophilic, and the cells can be irregular rods or coccoid. It was originally isolated from tidal flat sediment collected from Kwangyang, South Korea during a survey for diesel-degrading bacteria. The species name refers to its ability to degrade diesel fuel. K. dieselivorans is the type species of genus Kribbia, and is currently the only species in the genus.
Knoellia is a genus of Gram positive, aerobic, non-endosporeforming bacteria. Species in this genus are mesophilic and have cells that are irregular rods or coccoid.
Knoellia aerolata is a species of Gram positive, nonmotile, non-sporeforming bacteria. The bacteria are aerobic and mesophilic, and the cells can be irregular rods or coccoid. It was originally isolated from an air sample from Suwon City, South Korea. The species name is derived from Latin aer (air) and latus (carried).
Knoellia flava is a species of Gram positive, nonmotile, non-sporeforming bacteria. The bacteria are aerobic and mesophilic, and the cells can be irregular rods or coccoid. It was originally isolated from pig manure from Huazhong Agricultural University in Wuhan, China. The species name is derived from Latin flava (yellow), referring to the colony color of the species when grown on R2A agar.
Knoellia locipacati is a species of Gram positive, nonmotile, non-sporeforming bacteria. The bacteria are aerobic and mesophilic, and the cells can be irregular rods or coccoid. It was originally isolated from soil from the Korean Demilitarized Zone. The species name is derived from Latin locus and pacatus.
Knoellia subterranea is a species of Gram positive, nonmotile, non-sporeforming bacteria. The bacteria are aerobic and mesophilic, and the cells can be irregular rods or coccoid. It was originally isolated from an air sample from cave soil from Reed Flute Cave in Guilin, China. K. sinensis was one of the first described species of Knoellia, being discovered along with the type strain K. sinensis. The species name refers to its subterranean isolation location
Cavicella is a genus of bacteria which belongs to the class Gammaproteobacteria with one known species. Cavicella subterranea has been isolated from mineral water from a 150-metre-deep borehole in Portugal.
