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

1 Max-Planck-Institute for Marine Microbiology, Celsiusstraβe 1, D-28359 Bremen, Germany 2 Department of Biological Sciences, 508 Life Sciences Building, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA 3 DSMZ - Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen GmbH, D-38124 Braunschweig, Germany Author for correspondence: Jan Kuever. Tel: +49 421 2028 734. Fax: +49 421 2028 580. e-mail: jkuever{at}mpi-bremen.de ABSTRACT Strain Groll T , isolated from fresh water, is a mesophilic, spore-forming, sulfatereducing 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 CO 2 , but acetate or other fatty acids can accumulate at high substrate concentrations. The G+C content of the DNA is 54·8 mol%. Strain Groll T 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