Psychrotolerant Sulfate-reducing Bacteria from an Oxic Freshwater Sediment Description of Desulfovibrio cuneatus sp. nov. and Desulfovibrio litoralis sp. nov

• Published in: Systematic and applied microbiology 1998-06, Vol.21 (2), p.212-219
• Main Authors: Sass, Henrik, Berchtold, Manfred, Branke, Jürgen, König, Helmut, Cypionka, Heribert, Babenzien, Hans-Dietrich
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: aerobic respiration; aggregation; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Bacteriology; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Cytochromes - analysis; Desulfovibrio - classification; Desulfovibrio - metabolism; Desulfovibrio - ultrastructure; Desulfovibrio cuneatus; Desulfovibrio cuneatus sp. nov; Desulfovibrio litoralis; Desulfovibrio litoralis sp. nov; DNA, Bacterial - chemistry; DNA, Ribosomal - chemistry; Fresh Water - microbiology; Freshwater; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Geologic Sediments - microbiology; Germany; Hydrogensulfite Reductase; Microbial ecology; Microbiology; Microscopy, Electron; Microscopy, Phase-Contrast; Molecular Sequence Data; Nephelometry and Turbidimetry; oxic sediments; Oxidation-Reduction; Oxidoreductases Acting on Sulfur Group Donors - analysis; oxygen tolerance; Phylogeny; Polymerase Chain Reaction; psychrophilic bacteria; Respiration; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Sulfates - chemistry; Sulfates - metabolism; Systematics; Various environments (extraatmospheric space, air, water); Water Microbiology
• ISSN: 0723-2020; 1618-0984
• DOI: 10.1016/S0723-2020(98)80025-8

The most abundant culturable sulfate-reducing bacteria were isolated from the littoral sediment of the oligotrophic Lake Stechlin. The strains STL1 and STL4 were obtained from the oxic uppermost layer, while strain STL6 was isolated from the anoxic zone in 20 to 30 mm depth. The isolates snowed a striking morphological feature in tapering off at one end of the cell. Physiological characteristics related them to the genus Desulfovibrio. They contained desulfoviridin. H 2, formate, pyruvate, lactate, and fumarate were utilized with sulfate, sulfite, thiosulfate, or elemental sulfur as electron acceptors. All isolates were able to reduce oxygen and survived 120 h of aeration. However, aerobic growth was not observed. The isolates were psychrotolerant, and grew with rates of up to 0.29 d -1 at 4 °C. Analysis of the 16S rDNA confirmed that the strains belong to the genus Desulfovibrio. However, they were not closely related to any known member of this genus and formed a new cluster with at least two new species. Strain STL1 and STL4, exhibiting 99.7% sequence similarity in 16S rRNA, are proposed as the new species Desulfovibrio cuneatus sp. nov., while strain STL6 is assigned to the new species Desulfovibrio litoralis sp. nov.