De.sul.fo.ra'mu.lus. L. pref.
de
from; L. neut. n.
sulfur
sulfur; L. masc. n.
ramulus
a sprig, a little bough or rod; N.L. masc. n.
Desulforamulus
a rod‐shaped sulfate reducer.
Desulfotomaculota (Firmicutes_B) / Desulfotomaculia / Desulfotomaculales / Desulfotomaculaceae / Desulforamulus gen. nov.
Cells are straight or slightly curved rods. Gram‐staining reaction varies with the species. Oval spores occur terminal, subterminal, or paracentral of cells. Most species are motile by means of flagella. Strictly anaerobic, having a respiratory and fermentative type of metabolism. Thermophilic or mesophilic. Neutrophilic. NaCl is not necessary for growth. Chemoorganoheterotrophic growth occurs using organic acids, alcohols, amino acids, and sugars. Chemolithoheterotrophic growth occurs with H
2
and CO
2
in the presence of acetate. One species grows chemolithoautotrophically on H
2
and CO
2
. Substrates are incompletely oxidized. Sulfate, thiosulfate, and sulfite are used as electron acceptors. Heavy metals or arsenic compounds are utilized as electron acceptors by one strain. Fermentative growth on lactate, pyruvate, fructose, or glucose. The major cellular fatty acids are C
16:0
, iso‐C
15:0
, iso‐C
17:0
, C
16:1
ω9
c
, C
16:1
ω7
c
, C
16:0
dimethyl acetal, and iso‐C
17:1
ω7
c
. The type species was found in the rumen contents of sheep.
DNA G + C content (mol%)
: 42.9–52.4 (LC,
T
m
); 42.3–49.5 (genome).
Type species
:
Desulforamulus ruminis
comb. nov. (basonym:
Desulfotomaculum ruminis
Campbell and Postgate 1965
AL
).