Isolation and characterization of a thermophilic benzoate-degrading, sulfate-reducing bacterium, Desulfotomaculum thermobenzoicum sp. nov.

A new thermophilic sulfate-reducing bacterium, strain TSB, that was spore-forming, rod-shaped, slightly motile and gram-positive, was isolated from a butyrate-containing enrichment culture inoculated with sludge of a thermophilic methane fermentation reactor. This isolate could oxidize benzoate completely. Strain TSB also oxidized some fatty acids and alcohols. SO, SO, SOand NOwere utilized as electron acceptors. With pyruvate or lactate the isolate grew without an external electron acceptor and produced acetate. The optimum temperature for growth was 62°C. The G+ C content of DNA was 52.8 mol%. This isolate is described as a new species, Desulfotomaculum thermobenzoicum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]