Thermus is a genus of thermophilic bacteria. It is one of several bacteria belonging to the Deinococcota phylum. According to comparative analysis of 16S rRNA, this is one the most ancient group of bacteria Thermus species can be distinguished from other genera in the family Thermaceae as well as all other bacteria by the presence of eight conserved signature indels found in proteins such as adenylate kinase and replicative DNA helicase as well as 14 conserved signature proteins that are exclusively shared by members of this genus.
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.
Alteromonas is a genus of Pseudomonadota found in sea water, either in the open ocean or in the coast. It is Gram-negative. Its cells are curved rods with a single polar flagellum.
Oxobacter is a genus of Gram-positive obligately anaerobic rod-shaped acetogenic bacteria. The sole species in the genus is Oxobacter pfennigii, formerly known as Clostridium pfennigii. This endospore-forming microorganism catabolizes pyruvate to acetate and CO2, while sugars and amino acids are not utilized as energy sources.
Alicyclobacillus is a genus of Gram-variable, rod-shaped, spore-forming bacteria. The bacteria are able to grow in acidic conditions, while the spores are able to survive typical pasteurization procedures.
Thermoanaerobacter is a genus in the phylum Bacillota (Bacteria). Members of this genus are thermophilic and anaerobic, several of them were previously described as Clostridium species and members of the now obsolete genera Acetogenium and Thermobacteroides
Thermoanaerobacter acetoethylicus, formerly called Thermobacteroides acetoethylicus, is a species of thermophilic, nonspore-forming bacteria.
Coprothermobacter proteolyticus, formerly Thermobacteroides proteolyticus, is a thermophilic, non-spore-forming bacteria.
Thermoanaerobacter brockii, formerly Thermoanaerobium brockii, is a thermophilic, anaerobic, spore-forming bacterium.
Thermoanaerobacter mathranii is a thermophilic, anaerobic, spore-forming bacteria.
Thermoanaerobacter pseudethanolicus is a thermophilic, strictly anaerobic, spore-forming bacteria that was first found at Yellowstone National Park in the United States. Because of its ability to efficiently ferment sugars, it is thought to be of potential use in producing industrial alcohol.
Moorella thermoacetica, previously known as Clostridium thermoaceticum, is an acetogenic, thermophilic, strictly anaerobic, endospore-forming, bacterium belonging to the phylum Bacillota.
Moorella thermoautotrophica, previously known as Clostridium thermoautotrophicum, is a rod-shaped, endospore-forming bacterium belonging to the phylum Bacillota. It is thermophilic, strictly anaerobic and acetogenic, and was isolated from a hot spring in Yellowstone National Park USA.
Rothia kristinae is a Gram positive bacterium. R. kristinae is a common human skin organism, but can cause opportunistic infections in humans.
Thermoanaerobacter siderophilus is a dissimilatory Fe(III)-reducing, anaerobic, thermophilic bacterium that was firstly isolated from the sediment of a hydrothermal vent found near the Karymsky volcano, in the Kamchatka peninsula, Russia. It is spore-forming, with type strain SR4T.
Desulfacinum infernum is a thermophilic sulfate-reducing bacterium, the type species of its genus. Its cells are oval, 1.5 by 2.5-3μm, non-motile and gram-negative.
Brevibacillus borstelensis is a Gram-positive, aerobic, rod-shaped, endospore-forming bacterium of the genus Brevibacillus. The genome of several B. borstelensis strains have been sequenced.
Thermonema is a Gram-negative, chemoheterotrophic and aerobic genus from the phylum Bacteroidota.
Thermonema lapsum is a Gram-negative and thermophilic bacterium from the genus of Thermonema which has been isolated from a hot spring in Rotorua in New Zealand.Homospermidine and homospermine are the major polyamines of Thermonema lapsum
Coprothermobacter is a genus of rod-shaped microorganisms, belonging to the bacterial family Coprothermobacteraceae of the phylum Coprothermobacterota. This taxonomic genus has been reclassified in 2018, after different phylogenetic studies showed that these bacteria represented a deeply branched taxon of the domain Bacteria; consequently, the clade including this genus has been classified in a separate phylum from Firmicutes, the phylum where it was included before reclassification.
