Sulfuritortus calidifontis gen. nov., sp nov., a sulfur oxidizer isolated from a hot spring microbial mat

A novel sulfur-oxidizing autotrophic bacterium, strain J1A(T) was isolated from a hot spring microbial mat. The cells were Gram-stain-negative, catalase-negative and oxidase-positive. As sole electron donor for chemolithoautotrophic growth, strain J1A(T) utilized sulfide, thiosulfate, elemental sulfur, and tetrathionate. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 66 mol%. Major cellular fatty acids (>40% of total) were C-16:0 and summed feature 3 (C-16:1 omega 7c and/or C-16:1 omega 6c). The predominant quinone was Q-8. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene indicated that strain J1A(T) is a relative of species of the genus Thiobacillus, but shares only 93% or lower sequence similarities with them. On the basis of its properties, strain J1A(T) represents a novel species of a new genus, for which the name Sulfuritortus calidifontis gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of the type species is J1A(T) (=DSM 103923(T)=NBRC 112474(T)).