Thermodesulfobium acidiphilum sp. nov., a thermoacidophilic, sulfate-reducing, chemoautotrophic bacterium from a thermal site

An obligately anaerobic, sulfate-reducing micro-organism, strain 3127-1T, was isolated from geothermally heated soil (Oil Site, Uzon Caldera, Kamchatka, Russia). The new isolate was a moderately thermoacidophilic anaerobe able to grow with H2 or formate by respiration of sulfate or thiosulfate. The pH range for growth was 3.7-6.5, with an optimum at 4.8-5.0. The temperature range for growth was 37-65 °C, with an optimum at 55 °C. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 33.7 mol%. The genome of strain 3127-1T contained two almost identical 16S rRNA genes, differing by a single nucleotide substitution. The closest 16S rRNA gene sequence of a validly published species belonged to Thermodesulfobium narugense Na82T (99.5 % similarity). However, the average nucleotide identity of the genomes of strain 3127-1T and T. narugense Na82T and the predicted DNA-DNA hybridization value (GGDC 2.1 blast+, formula 2) were as low as 86 and 32.5±2.5 %, respectively. This, together with phenotypic data, showed the new isolate to belong to a novel species, for which the name Thermodesulfobium acidiphilum sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 3127-1T (=DSM 102892T=VKM B-3043T).