Sulfurimonas autotrophica gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel sulfur-oxidizing epsilon-proteobacterium isolated from hydrothermal sediments in the Mid-Okinawa Trough.

A novel mesophilic, sulfur- and thiosulfate-oxidizing bacterium, strain OK10(T), was isolated from deep-sea sediments at the Hatoma Knoll in the Mid-Okinawa Trough hydrothermal field. Cells of strain OK10(T) were short rods, each being motile by means of a single polar flagellum. The isolate grew at 10-40 degrees C (optimum 25 degrees C) and pH 4.5-9.0 (optimum pH 6.5). It grew chemolithoautotrophically with elemental sulfur, sulfide and thiosulfate as sole electron donors and oxygen as electron acceptor. Molecular hydrogen did not support growth. The G+C content of the genomic DNA of strain OK10(T) was 35.2 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis, based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, indicated that the isolate belonged to the epsilon-Proteobacteria. On the basis of its physiological and molecular characteristics, strain OK10(T) (=ATCC BAA-671(T)=JCM 11897(T)) represents the sole species of a new genus, Sulfurimonas, for which the name Sulfurimonas autotrophica is proposed.