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Thiobacter subterraneus gen. nov., sp. nov., an obligately chemolithoautotrophic, thermophilic, sulfur-oxidizing bacterium from a subsurface hot aquifer

¹ Subground Animalcule Retrieval (SUGAR) Project, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan
² Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, 3651 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0740, USA

Correspondence
Hisako Hirayama
hirayamah{at}jamstec.go.jp

A novel, thermophilic, obligately chemolithoautotrophic, sulfur/thiosulfate-oxidizing bacterium was isolated from subsurface geothermal aquifer water (temperature approximately 70 °C) in the Hishikari gold mine, Japan. Cells of the isolate, designated strain C55^T, were motile, straight rods with a single polar flagellum. Growth was observed at temperatures between 35 and 62 °C (optimum 50–55 °C; 60 min doubling time) and pH between 5·2 and 7·7 (optimum pH 6·5–7·0). High growth rate of strain C55^T was observed on either thiosulfate or elemental sulfur as a sole energy source, with molecular oxygen as the only electron acceptor. None of the organic compounds tested supported or stimulated growth of strain C55^T. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 66·9 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain C55^T was affiliated to the -Proteobacteria, but was distantly related to recognized genera. On the basis of its physiological and molecular properties, strain C55^T (=JCM12421^T=DSM 16629^T=ATCC BAA-941^T) is proposed as the type strain of Thiobacter subterraneus gen. nov., sp. nov.