Clostridium thermoalcaliphilum sp. nov., an anaerobic and thermotolerant facultative alkaliphile.

An anaerobic and thermophilic alkaliphile, strain JW/YL23-2T (T = type strain), was isolated from sewage sludge obtained from a sewage plant in Atlanta, Ga. At pH 10.1 and 50 degrees C, the doubling time of this strain was 19 min. Strain JW/YL23-2T, a motile rod-shaped bacterium with 2 to 12 peritrichous flagella, exhibited a negative Gram stain reaction but was gram-type positive as judged by the polymyxin B test. No heat-stable (85 degrees C, 15 min) endospores were detected. At 50 degrees C, growth occurred at pH values ranging from 7.0 to 11.0; the optimum pH was 9.6 to 10.1. The temperature range for growth ranged from 27 to 57.5 degrees C; the optimum temperature was 48 to 51 degrees C (pH 10.1). Dissimilatory sulfate reduction was not detected. The organism utilized glucose, fructose, sucrose, maltose, cellobiose, and Casamino Acids. The DNA G+C content was 32 mol% (as determined by chemical analysis). A 16S rRNA sequence analysis revealed a 2% inferred evolutionary distance to Clostridium paradoxum. However, the cell wall type of strain JW/YL23-2T was A4 beta (L-Orn-D-Asp), while that of C. paradoxum was A1 tau (m-diaminopimelic acid direct). On the basis of the alkaline pH values and high temperatures for optimal growth, the inability to form spores, and other characteristics different from C. paradoxum characteristics, strain JW/YL-23-2 was placed in a new species, Clostridium thermoalcaliphilum; JW/YL23-2 (= DSM 7309) is the type strain of this new species.