General Information: This strain was isolated from an iron-rich microbial mat from School Street Marsh in Woods Hole, MA, USA. It grows photoautotrophically with Fe(II), H2, or thiosulfate as the electron donor, photoheterotrophically with a variety of organic carbon sources and chemoheterotrophically in the dark. This organism has a diverse metabolism and is capable of growth using light, inorganic, or organic compounds as energy sources and carbon dioxide or organic compounds as carbon sources. Commonly found in soil and water environments this bacterium is also capable of degrading a wide range of toxic organic compounds, and may be of use in bioremediation of polluted sites. The bacterium undergoes differentiation to produce a stalked nonmotile cell and a motile flagellated cell. In the presence of light, this bacterium produces a number of intracellular membranous vesicles to house the photosynthetic reaction centers.