A thermophilic, anaerobic, chemolithoautotrophic bacterium (designated strain SL50T) was isolated from a hydrothermal sample collected at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge from the deepest of the known World ocean hydrothermal fields, Ashadze field (1 ° 58′ 21″ N 4 ° 51′ 47″ W) at a depth of 4100 m. Cells of strain SL50T were motile, straight to bent rods with one polar flagellum, 0.5–0.6 μm in width and 3.0–3.5 μm in length. The temperature range for growth was 25–75 °C, with an optimum at 60 °C. The pH range for growth was 5.0–7.5, with an optimum at pH 6.5. Growth of strain SL50T was observed at NaCl concentrations ranging from 1.0 to 6.0 % (w/v) with an optimum at 2.5 % (w/v). The generation time under optimal growth conditions for strain SL50T was 60 min. Strain SL50T used molecular hydrogen, acetate, lactate, succinate, pyruvate and complex proteinaceous compounds as electron donors, and Fe(III), Mn(IV), nitrate or elemental sulfur as electron acceptors. The G+C content of the DNA of strain SL50T was 28.7 mol%. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed that the closest relative of strain SL50T was Deferribacter abyssi JRT (95.5 % similarity). On the basis of its physiological properties and phylogenetic analyses, the isolate is considered to represent a novel species, for which the name Deferribacter autotrophicus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SL50T (=DSM 21529T=VKPM B-10097T). Deferribacter autotrophicus sp. nov. is the first described deep-sea bacterium capable of chemolithoautotrophic growth using molecular hydrogen as an electron donor and ferric iron as electron acceptor and CO2 as the carbon source.
Cole, J. R., Chai, B., Farris, R. J., Wang, Q., Kulam-Syed-Mohideen, A. S., McGarrell, D. M., Bandela, A. M., Cardenas, E., Garrity, G. M. & Tiedje, J. M.(2007). The ribosomal database project (RDP-II): introducing myRDP space and quality controlled public data. Nucleic Acids Res35, (Database issue), D169–D172.[CrossRef][Google Scholar]
Cord-Ruwisch, R.(1985). A quick method for the determination of dissolved and precipitated sulfides in cultures of sulfide-reducing bacteria. J Microbiol Methods4, 33–36.[CrossRef][Google Scholar]
Greene, A. C., Patel, B. K. C. & Sheehy, A. J.(1997).Deferribacter thermophilus gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel thermophilic manganese- and iron-reducing bacterium isolated from a petroleum reservoir. Int J Syst Bacteriol47, 505–509.[CrossRef][Google Scholar]
Huber, H. & Stetter, K. O.(2002). Family I. Deferribacteraceae fam. nov. In Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, 2nd edn, vol. 1, pp. 465–466. Edited by D. R. Boone & R. W. Castenholz. New York: Springer.
Kashefi, K., Tor, J. M., Holmes, D. E., Gaw Van Praagh, C. V., Reysenbach, A. L. & Lovley, D. R.(2002).Geoglobus ahangari gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel hyperthermophilic archaeon capable of oxidizing organic acids and growing autotrophically on hydrogen with Fe(III) serving as the sole electron accepter. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol52, 719–728.[CrossRef][Google Scholar]
Kashefi, K., Holmes, D. E., Baross, J. A. & Lovley, D. R.(2003). Thermophily in the Geobacteraceae: Geothermobacter erlichii gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel thermophilic member of the Geobacteraceae from the “Bag City” hydrothermal vent. Appl Environ Microbiol69, 2985–2993.[CrossRef][Google Scholar]
Miroshnichenko, M. L. & Bonch-Osmolovskaya, E. A.(2006). Recent developments in the thermophilic microbiology of deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Extremophiles10, 85–96.[CrossRef][Google Scholar]
Miroshnichenko, M. L., Slobodkin, A. I., Kostrikina, N. A., L'Haridon, S., Nercessian, O., Spring, S., Stackebrandt, E., Bonch-Osmolovskaya, E. A. & Jeanthon, C.(2003).Deferribacter abyssi sp. nov., an anaerobic thermophile from deep-sea hydrothermal vents of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol53, 1637–1641.[CrossRef][Google Scholar]
Reysenbach, A. L., Liu, Y., Banta, A. B., Beveridge, T. J., Kirshtein, J. D., Schouten, S., Tivey, M. K., Von Damm, K. & Voytek, M. A.(2006). A ubiquitous thermoacidophilic archaeon from deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Nature442, 444–447.[CrossRef][Google Scholar]
Slobodkin, A. I.(2005). Thermophilic microbial metal reduction. Microbiology English translation of Mikrobiologiia) 74, 501–514.[CrossRef][Google Scholar]
Slobodkin, A., Reysenbach, A.-L., Strutz, N., Dreier, M. & Wiegel, J.(1997).Thermoterrabacterium ferrireducens gen. nov., sp. nov., a thermophilic anaerobic dissimilatory Fe(III)-reducing bacterium from a continental hot spring. Int J Syst Bacteriol47, 541–547.[CrossRef][Google Scholar]
Slobodkin, A. I., Tourova, T. P., Kuznetsov, B. B., Kostrikina, N. A., Chernyh, N. A. & Bonch-Osmolovskaya, E. A.(1999).Thermoanaerobacter siderophilus sp. nov., a novel dissimilatory Fe(III)-reducing anaerobic thermophilic bacterium. Int J Syst Bacteriol49, 1471–1478.[CrossRef][Google Scholar]
Slobodkin, A., Campbell, B., Cary, S. C., Bonch-Osmolovskaya, E. A. & Jeanthon, C.(2001). Evidence for the presence of thermophilic Fe(III)-reducing microorganisms in deep-sea hydrothermal vents at 1 °N (East Pacific Rise). FEMS Microbiol Ecol36, 235–243.
[Google Scholar]
Takai, K., Kobayashi, H., Nealson, K. H. & Horikoshi, K.(2003).Deferribacter desulfuricans sp. nov., a novel sulfur-, nitrate- and arsenate-reducing thermophile isolated from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol53, 839–846.[CrossRef][Google Scholar]
Woese, C. R., Achenbach, L., Rouviere, P. & Mandelco, L.(1991). Archaeal phylogeny: reexamination of the phylogenetic position of Archaeoglobus fulgidus in light of certain composition-induced artifacts. Syst Appl Microbiol14, 364–371.[CrossRef][Google Scholar]
Wolin, E. A., Wolin, M. J. & Wolfe, R. S.(1963). Formation of methane by bacterial extracts. J Biol Chem238, 2882–2886.
[Google Scholar]
Zavarzina, D. G., Tourova, T. P., Kuznetsov, B. B., Bonch-Osmolovskaya, E. A. & Slobodkin, A. I.(2002).Thermovenabulum ferriorganovorum gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel thermophilic, anaerobic endospore-forming bacterium. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol52, 1737–1743.[CrossRef][Google Scholar]