Query: NC_018870:1417851 Thermacetogenium phaeum DSM 12270 chromosome, complete genome
Lineage: Thermacetogenium phaeum; Thermacetogenium; Thermoanaerobacteraceae; Thermoanaerobacterales; Firmicutes; Bacteria
General Information: Nitrogen fixation. Thermophilic strictly anaerobic bacterium oxidizing acetate to CO2 in syntrophic association with a methanogenic partner. Capable of growing with various substrates such as alcohols and methylated nitrogen compounds, and to reduce sulfate in the presence of acetate. Isolated from sludge of an anaerobic digester run at 58 degrees C. Thermacetogenium phaeum is a strictly anaerobic, homoacetogenic bacterium. It is exceptional because it can use the homoacetogenic Wood-Ljungdahl (CO- dehydrogenase) pathway both for acetate formation and acetate oxidation. Acetate oxidation is possible only in syntrophic cooperation with a methanogenic partner which maintains a low hydrogen and/or formate concentration in the coculture. With this, the bacterium operates close to the thermodynamic equilibrium of substrate conversion, similar to other syntrophically fermenting bacteria such as Syntrophomonas wolfei the genomes of which have been sequenced as well in the recent past.
Subject: NC_000917:1778173 Archaeoglobus fulgidus DSM 4304, complete genome
Lineage: Archaeoglobus fulgidus; Archaeoglobus; Archaeoglobaceae; Archaeoglobales; Euryarchaeota; Archaea
General Information: This is the type strain (DSM 4304) of the Archaeoglobales, and was isolated from a geothermally heated sea floor at Vulcano Island, Italy. Doubling time is four hours under optimal conditions. The organism is an autotrophic or organotrophic sulfate/sulfite respirer. An additional distinguishing characteristic is blue-green fluorescence at 420 nm. This bacterium is the first sulfur-metabolizing organism to have its genome sequence determined. Growth by sulfate reduction is restricted to relatively few groups of prokaryotes; all but one of these are Eubacteria, the exception being the archaeal sulfate reducers in the Archaeoglobales. These organisms are unique in that they are only distantly related to other bacterial sulfate reducers, and because they can grow at extremely high temperatures. The known Archaeoglobales are strict anaerobes, most of which are hyperthermophilic marine sulfate reducers found in hydrothermal environments. High-temperature sulfate reduction by Archaeoglobus species contributes to deep subsurface oil-well 'souring' by iron sulfide, which causes corrosion of iron and steel in oil-and gas-processing systems.