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The Family Nitrospiraceae

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The Prokaryotes

Abstract

Nitrospiraceae is the only established family in the phylum Nitrospirae and comprises the genera Nitrospira, Leptospirillum, and Thermodesulfovibrio. In phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences Nitrospira and Leptospirillum consistently cluster together, whereas Thermodesulfovibrio forms a separate branch within the phylum. The family is physiologically highly diverse and contains chemolithoautotrophic aerobic nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (Nitrospira), chemolithoautotrophic aerobic and acidophilic ferrous iron oxidizers (Leptospirillum), and anaerobic, thermophilic, chemoorganoheterotrophic or hydrogenotrophic sulfate reducers (Thermodesulfovibrio). Members of the family occur in a wide range of natural and man-made ecosystems. In particular, the genus Nitrospira is almost ubiquitously distributed in oxic habitats and represents the predominant known nitrite oxidizers in nature, which catalyze the second step of nitrification and thus are essential for biogeochemical nitrogen cycling. All three genera are relevant for biotechnological processes. The genus Nitrospira contains the key nitrite oxidizers in biological wastewater treatment plants, whereas members of Leptospirillum are important iron oxidizers in the bioleaching of metal ores and are involved in acid mine drainage. Thermodesulfovibrio representatives occur in anaerobic digesters, where they contribute to the degradation of organic compounds and indirectly to the production of methane. Especially the members of Nitrospira and Leptospirillum are difficult to cultivate and most of their diversity has been detected by cultivation-independent molecular approaches.

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Acknowledgments

The author thanks Michael Pester for providing the phylogenetic consensus tree of the genus Nitrospira as basis of Fig. 59.2.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Microbial Ecology, Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, University of Vienna, 1090, Vienna, Austria

    Holger Daims

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  1. Holger Daims
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Correspondence to Holger Daims .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Eugene Rosenberg

  2. Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Edward F. DeLong

  3. Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education, University of Hawaii, Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA

    Edward F. DeLong

  4. Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Stephen Lory

  5. Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, Braunschweig, Germany

    Erko Stackebrandt

  6. Laboratory of Microbiology, Institute of Biology, Center for Health Sciences, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Fabiano Thompson

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Daims, H. (2014). The Family Nitrospiraceae . In: Rosenberg, E., DeLong, E.F., Lory, S., Stackebrandt, E., Thompson, F. (eds) The Prokaryotes. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38954-2_126

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