This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kashefi, K.
Right arrow Articles by Lovley, D. R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Kashefi, K.
Right arrow Articles by Lovley, D. R.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Kashefi, K.
Right arrow Articles by Lovley, D. R.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 2003, p. 2985-2993, Vol. 69, No. 5
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.5.2985-2993.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Thermophily in the Geobacteraceae: Geothermobacter ehrlichii gen. nov., sp. nov., a Novel Thermophilic Member of the Geobacteraceae from the "Bag City" Hydrothermal Vent

Kazem Kashefi,1 Dawn E. Holmes,1 John A. Baross,2 and Derek R. Lovley1*

Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003,1 School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 981952

Received 7 November 2002/ Accepted 5 February 2003

Little is known about the microbiology of the "Bag City" hydrothermal vent, which is part of a new eruption site on the Juan de Fuca Ridge and which is notable for its accumulation of polysaccharide on the sediment surface. A pure culture, designated strain SS015, was recovered from a vent fluid sample from the Bag City site through serial dilution in liquid medium with malate as the electron donor and Fe(III) oxide as the electron acceptor and then isolation of single colonies on solid Fe(III) oxide medium. The cells were gram-negative rods, about 0.5 µm by 1.2 to 1.5 µm, and motile and contained c-type cytochromes. Analysis of the 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequence of strain SS015 placed it in the family Geobacteraceae in the delta subclass of the Proteobacteria. Unlike previously described members of the Geobacteraceae, which are mesophiles, strain SS015 was a thermophile and grew at temperatures of between 35 and 65°C, with an optimum temperature of 55°C. Like many previously described members of the Geobacteraceae, strain SS015 grew with organic acids as the electron donors and Fe(III) or nitrate as the electron acceptor, with nitrate being reduced to ammonia. Strain SS015 was unique among the Geobacteraceae in its ability to use sugars, starch, or amino acids as electron donors for Fe(III) reduction. Under stress conditions, strain SS015 produced copious quantities of extracellular polysaccharide, providing a model for the microbial production of the polysaccharide accumulation at the Bag City site. The 16S rDNA sequence of strain SS015 was less than 94% similar to the sequences of previously described members of the Geobacteraceae; this fact, coupled with its unique physiological properties, suggests that strain SS015 represents a new genus in the family Geobacteraceae. The name Geothermobacter ehrlichii gen. nov., sp. nov., is proposed (ATCC BAA-635 and DSM 15274). Although strains of Geobacteraceae are known to be the predominant Fe(III)-reducing microorganisms in a variety of Fe(III)-reducing environments at moderate temperatures, strain SS015 represents the first described thermophilic member of the Geobacteraceae and thus extends the known environmental range of this family to hydrothermal environments.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts, 203 Morrill Science Center IVN, Box 35720, Amherst, MA 01003-5720. Phone: (413) 545-9651. Fax: (413) 545-1578. E-mail: dlovley{at}microbio.umass.edu.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 2003, p. 2985-2993, Vol. 69, No. 5
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.5.2985-2993.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Slobodkina, G. B., Kolganova, T. V., Chernyh, N. A., Querellou, J., Bonch-Osmolovskaya, E. A., Slobodkin, A. I. (2009). Deferribacter autotrophicus sp. nov., an iron(III)-reducing bacterium from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 59: 1508-1512 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ogg, C. D., Patel, B. K. C. (2009). Thermotalea metallivorans gen. nov., sp. nov., a thermophilic, anaerobic bacterium from the Great Artesian Basin of Australia aquifer. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 59: 964-971 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ogg, C. D., Patel, B. K. C. (2009). Fervidicola ferrireducens gen. nov., sp. nov., a thermophilic anaerobic bacterium from geothermal waters of the Great Artesian Basin, Australia. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 59: 1100-1107 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Blothe, M., Roden, E. E. (2009). Microbial Iron Redox Cycling in a Circumneutral-pH Groundwater Seep. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75: 468-473 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ogg, C. D., Patel, B. K. C. (2009). Caloramator australicus sp. nov., a thermophilic, anaerobic bacterium from the Great Artesian Basin of Australia. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 59: 95-101 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Kashefi, K., Shelobolina, E. S., Elliott, W. C., Lovley, D. R. (2008). Growth of Thermophilic and Hyperthermophilic Fe(III)-Reducing Microorganisms on a Ferruginous Smectite as the Sole Electron Acceptor. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 251-258 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Bond, D. R., Mester, T., Nesbo, C. L., Izquierdo-Lopez, A. V., Collart, F. L., Lovley, D. R. (2005). Characterization of Citrate Synthase from Geobacter sulfurreducens and Evidence for a Family of Citrate Synthases Similar to Those of Eukaryotes throughout the Geobacteraceae. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 3858-3865 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • (2005). Validation of publication of new names and new combinations previously effectively published outside the IJSEM. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 55: 547-549 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Holmes, D. E., Nicoll, J. S., Bond, D. R., Lovley, D. R. (2004). Potential Role of a Novel Psychrotolerant Member of the Family Geobacteraceae, Geopsychrobacter electrodiphilus gen. nov., sp. nov., in Electricity Production by a Marine Sediment Fuel Cell. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70: 6023-6030 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»