A hyperthermophilic, anaerobic, dissimilatory Fe(III)-reducing, facultatively chemolithoautotrophic archaeon (strain SBH6 T ) was isolated from a hydrothermal sample collected from the deepest of the known World Ocean hydrothermal fields, Ashadze field (126 589 210 N 446 519 470 W) on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, at a depth of 4100 m. The strain was enriched using acetate as the electron donor and Fe(III) oxide as the electron acceptor. Cells of strain SBH6 T were irregular cocci, 0.3-0.5 mm in diameter. The temperature range for growth was 50-85 6C, with an optimum at 81 6C. The pH range for growth was 5.0-7.5, with an optimum at pH 6.8. Growth of SBH6 T was observed at NaCl concentrations ranging from 1 to 6 % (w/v) with an optimum at 2.5 % (w/v). The isolate utilized acetate, formate, pyruvate, fumarate, malate, propionate, butyrate, succinate, glycerol, stearate, palmitate, peptone and yeast extract as electron donors for Fe(III) reduction. It was also capable of growth with H 2 as the sole electron donor, CO 2 as a carbon source and Fe(III) as an electron acceptor without the need for organic substances. Fe(III) [in the form of poorly crystalline Fe(III) oxide or Fe(III) citrate] was the only electron acceptor that supported growth. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed that the closest relative of the isolated organism was Geoglobus ahangari 234 T (97.0 %). On the basis of its physiological properties and phylogenetic analyses, the isolate is considered to represent a novel species, for which the name Geoglobus acetivorans sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SBH6 T (5DSM 21716 T 5VKM B-2522 T ).Iron minerals are abundant in deep-sea hydrothermal vents. The surfaces of active chimneys are frequently covered with deposits of iron oxides in different oxidative states, and the amount of iron in hydrothermal fluid can reach molar concentrations. Thus, deep-sea hydrothermal vents can provide an ecological niche for Fe(III)-reducing micro-organisms (Slobodkin et al., 2001). However, only a few thermophilic Fe(III)-reducers have been isolated from this environment. Currently, thermophilic and hyperthermophilic iron-reducing micro-organisms recovered from deep-sea habitats include two species of the Bacteria, Geothermobacter ehrlichii (Kashefi et al., 2003) and Deferribacter abyssi (Miroshnichenko et al., 2003), and three representatives of the Archaea, Thermococcus sp. SN531 (Slobodkin et al., 2001), Geoglobus ahangari (Kashefi et al., 2002) and 'Candidatus Aciduliprofundum boonei ' (Reysenbach et al., 2006). In this paper, we report the isolation and characterization of a novel hyperthermophilic Fe(III)-reducing archaeon from the deepest of the known World Ocean hydrothermal fields.Strain SBH6 T was isolated from a fragment of a hydrothermal chimney-like structure. The sample was collected in March 2007 during the Serpentine cruise at the Ashadze hydrothermal field (12 u 589 210 N 44 u 519 470 W) on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at a depth of 4100 m. For sample collection, sterilized microbiological boxes filled with...