Query: NC_010337:565730 Heliobacterium modesticaldum Ice1, complete genome Lineage: Heliobacterium modesticaldum; Heliobacterium; Heliobacteriaceae; Clostridiales; Firmicutes; Bacteria General Information: Heliobacterium modesticaldum strain Ice1, the type strain of this species, was isolated from Icelandic hot spring volcanic soils. It grows optimally above 50 degrees Celsius, grows best photoheterotrophically, but can grow in the dark chemotrophically on pyruvate. Phototrophic thermophile. This organism is an anoxygenic phototroph isolated from hot spring microbial mats and volcanic soil. Cell wall structure, the ability to form endospores, and 16S ribosomal RNA analysis place Heliobacterium modesticaldum in a family of phototrophic bacteria related to the Clostridia. Heliobacterium modesticaldum is able to fix nitrogen and may contribute significantly to the nitrogen availability in microbial mats.
- Sequence; - BLASTN hit (Low score = Light, High score = Dark) - hypothetical protein; - cds: hover for description
General Information: First isolated in 1960 in Oxford, England, as an airborne contaminant growing on methylamine. This strain can grow on methylamine or methanol, but not methane. This organism is capable of growth on one-carbon compounds such as methanol. Methanol is oxidized to formaldehyde which is then used metabolically to generate either energy or biomass. These bacteria are commonly found in the environment, especially associated with plants which produce methanol when metabolizing pectin during cell wall synthesis. At least 25 genes are required for this complex process of converting methanol to formaldehyde and this specialized metabolic pathway is of great interest.