- Sulfate-reducing bacteria
Sulfate-reducing bacteria comprise several groups of bacteria that use
sulfate as an oxidizing agent, reducing it tosulfide . Most sulfate-reducing bacteria can also use other oxidized sulfur compounds such assulfite andthiosulfate , or elemental sulfur. This type of metabolism is called dissimilatory, since sulfur is not incorporated - assimilated - into any organic compounds. Sulfate-reducing bacteria have been considered as a possible way to deal with acid mine waters that are produced by other bacteria.Phylogeny
The sulfate-reducing bacteria have been treated as phenotypic group, together with the other
sulfur-reducing bacteria , for identification purposes. They are found in several different phylogenetic lines. Three lines are included among theProteobacteria , all in the delta subgroup:*
Desulfobacterales
*Desulfovibrionales
*Syntrophobacterales A fourth group including
thermophile s is given its own phylum, theThermodesulfobacteria . The remaining sulfate-reducers are included with other bacteria among theNitrospirae and the gram-positivePeptococcaceae - for instance "Thermodesulfovibrio " and "Desulfotomaculum ", respectively. There is also a genus ofArchaea known to be capable of sulfate reduction, "Archaeoglobus ".Environmental markers
The rotten egg odor of
hydrogen sulfide is often a marker for the presence of sulfate-reducing bacteria in nature.cite book
last = Dexter Dyer
first = Betsey
title = A Field Guide to Bacteria
publisher = Comstock Publishing Associates/Cornell University Press
date = 2003
location = Ithaca and London
pages =
url =
doi =
id = ] Sulfate-reducing bacteria are responsible for the sulfurous odors of salt marshes and mud flats, as well as intestinal gas. Sulfate-reducing bacteria slowly degrade tough-to-digest materials that are rich in cellulose in anaerobic environments. Rather than breathing oxygen, they "breathe" sulfate. Sulfate occurs widely in seawater, sediment, or water rich in decaying organic material.Ecologically these bacteria are common in
anaerobic environments. However during thePermian–Triassic extinction event a severeanoxic event seems to have occurred where these forms of bacteria became the dominant force in oceanic ecosystems.References
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