Description of Desulfotomaculum sp. Groll as Desulfotomaculum gibsoniae sp. nov.

Strain GrollT, isolated from fresh water, is a mesophilic, spore-forming, sulfate-reducing bacterium that uses a large variety of substrates as electron donors ranging from simple organic compounds to long-chain fatty acids and several aromatic compounds. Sulfate, thiosulfate and sulfite are used as electron acceptors. Homoacetogenic growth occurs under sulfate-free conditions. Substrate oxidation is usually complete, leading to CO2, but acetate or other fatty acids can accumulate at high substrate concentrations. The G + C content of the DNA is 54.8 mol%. Strain GrollT was found to be phenotypically and phylogenetically different from known members of the genus Desulfotomaculum. 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses show that this organism falls within the radiation of the genus Desulfotomaculum cluster and has < 96% sequence similarity to previously described species. The name Desulfotomaculum gibsoniae sp. nov. is proposed for this strain; the type strain is GrollT (= DSM 7213T).