title: Azospirillum thiophilum sp. nov., a diazotrophic bacterium isolated from a sulfide spring.
abstract: A novel nitrogen-fixing strain, designated BV-S(T), was isolated from a sulfur bacterial mat collected from a sulfide spring of the Stavropol Krai, North Caucasus, Russia. Strain BV-S(T) grew optimally at pH 7.5 and 37°C. According to the results of phylogenetic analysis, strain BV-S(T) belonged to the genus Azospirillum within the family Rhodospirillaceae of the class Alphaproteobacteria. Within the genus Azospirillum, strain BV-S(T) was most closely related to Azospirillum doebereinerae GSF71(T), A. picis IMMIB TAR-3(T) and A. lipoferum ATCC 29707(T) (97.7, 97.7 and 97.4 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, respectively). DNA-DNA relatedness between strain BV-S(T) and A. doebereinerae DSM 13131(T), A. picis DSM 19922(T) and A. lipoferum ATCC 29707(T) was 38, 55 and 42 %, respectively. Similarities between nifH sequences of strain BV-S(T) and members of the genus Azospirillum ranged from 94.5 to 96.8 %. Chemotaxonomic characteristics (quinone Q-10, major fatty acid C(18 : 1)ω7c and G+C content 67&emsp14;mol%) were similar to those of members of the genus Azospirillum. In contrast to known Azospirillum species, strain BV-S(T) was capable of mixotrophic growth under microaerobic conditions with simultaneous utilization of organic substrates and thiosulfate as electron donors for energy conservation. Oxidation of sulfide was accompanied by deposits of sulfur globules within the cells. Based on these observations, strain BV-S(T) is considered as a representative of a novel species of the genus Azospirillum, for which the name Azospirillum thiophilum sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is BV-S(T) (=DSM 21654(T) =VKM B-2513(T)).
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Voronezh, Universitetskaya pl. 1, Voronezh 394006, Russia.
authors.forename: Ksenia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lavrinenko
authors.affiliation: G. K. Skryabin Institute of Biochemistry and Physiology of Microorganisms, Russian Academy of Sciences and Pushchino State University, Pushchino, Moscow region, 142290, Russia.|Department of Biology, University of Voronezh, Universitetskaya pl. 1, Voronezh 394006, Russia.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chernousova
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Voronezh, Universitetskaya pl. 1, Voronezh 394006, Russia.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gridneva
authors.affiliation: S. N. Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 117312, Russia.
authors.forename: Galina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dubinina
authors.affiliation: G. K. Skryabin Institute of Biochemistry and Physiology of Microorganisms, Russian Academy of Sciences and Pushchino State University, Pushchino, Moscow region, 142290, Russia.
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Akimov
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Bremen Institute for Materials Testing, Paul-Feller-Strasse 1, D-28199 Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kuever
authors.affiliation: S. N. Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 117312, Russia.
authors.forename: Anatoly
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lysenko
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Voronezh, Universitetskaya pl. 1, Voronezh 394006, Russia.
authors.forename: Margarita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grabovich
mesh_terms: D016949:Azospirillum / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D001482:Base Composition; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D012426:Russia; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013440:Sulfides; D014451:Ubiquinone / Q000737:chemistry; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D005227:Fatty Acids; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D013440:Sulfides; D014451:Ubiquinone; C025204:Ubiquinone Q2