Dictyoglomus thermophilum

Dictyglomus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Bacteria
Phylum:	Dictyglomi[1][2]
Class:	Dictyglomia
Order:	Dictyglomales
Family:	Dictyglomaceae
Genus:	Dictyglomus Saiki et al. 1985
Species
D. thermophilum Saiki et al. 1985 D. turgidum corrig. Svetlichny and Svetlichnayá 1995

Dictyoglomus is a genus of bacterium,^[3] given its own phylum, called the Dictyoglomi. This organism is extremely thermophilic, meaning it thrives at extremely high temperatures. It is chemoorganotrophic, meaning it derives energy by metabolizing organic molecules. This organism is of interest because it elaborates an enzyme, xylanase, which digests xylan, a heteropolymer of the pentose sugar xylose. By pretreating wood pulp with this enzyme, paper manufacturers can achieve comparable levels of whiteness with much less chlorine bleach.

It has been described as Gram negative, with a triple-layered wall.^[4]

References

1. ^ J.P. Euzéby. "Dictyoglomi". List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature. http://www.bacterio.cict.fr/classifphyla.html#Dictyoglomi. Retrieved 2011-06-05. 
2. ^ See the NCBI webpage on Dictyglomi. Data extracted from the "NCBI taxonomy resources". National Center for Biotechnology Information. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/taxonomyhome.html/index.cgi. Retrieved 2011-06-05. 
3. ^ Morris DD, Gibbs MD, Chin CW, et al (May 1998). "Cloning of the xynB gene from Dictyoglomus thermophilum Rt46B.1 and action of the gene product on kraft pulp". Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 64 (5): 1759–65. PMC 106227. PMID 9572948. http://aem.asm.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=9572948. 
4. ^ Kristjansson, Jakob K. (1992). Thermophilic bacteria. Boca Raton: CRC Press. pp. 133. ISBN 0-8493-5239-8.