Desulfotomaculum aeronauticom sp. nov, a sporeforming, thiosulfate-reducing bacterium from corroded aluminium alloy in an aircraft

A strictly anaerobic, mesophilic, thiosulfate-reducing bacterium, that was sporeforming, rod-shaped and motile, was isolated from corroded aluminium alloy in an aircraft. H-2/CO2, formate, pyruvate, glycerol, and alanine were used as electron donors and carbon sources with thiosulfate or sulfite as electron acceptor. Pyruvate was incompletely oxidized to acetate. Sulfate did not serve as an electron acceptor. Growth was observed on peptone-yeast extract medium. The optimum temperature for growth was 37 degrees C, the pH optimum was 7.0. Addition of sodium chloride was not necessary. Vitamins were required for growth. The G + C content of the DNA was 43.8 mol%. Comparative 168 rDNA sequence analysis revealed a relationship of the new isolate to Desulfotomaculum ruminis and D. nigrificans (sequence similarity 92.6 and 93.0%, respectively). The isolate is described as anew species, Desulfotomaculum aeronauticum. The type strain is strain 9 (= DSM 10349).