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Investigation of mercaptans, organic sulfides, and inorganic sulfur compounds as sulfur sources for the growth of methanogenic bacteria

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Abstract

A variety of compounds were investigated for use as sulfur sources for the growth of methanogenic bacteria.Methanococcus (Mc.) deltae, Mc. maripaludis, Methanobacterium (Mb.) speciesGC-2B, GC-3B, andMMY, Methanobrevibacter (Mbr.) ruminantium, andMethanosarcina (Ms.) barkeri strain 227 grew well with sulfide, So, thiosulfate, or cysteine as sole sulfur source.Mbr. ruminatium was able to grow on SO =4 or SO =3 , andMs. barkeri strain 227 was able to grow on SO =3 , but not on SO =4 as a sole sulfur source.Mc. jannaschii grew with sulfide, So, thiosulfate or SO =3 , but not on cysteine or SO =4 as sole surface source.Mc. thermolithotrophicus, Mc. jannaschii, Mc. deltae, andMb. thermoautotrophicum strains Marburg and ΔH were able to grow with methanethiol, ethanethiol,n-propanethiol,n-butanethiol, methyl sulfide, dimethyl sulfoxide, ethyl sulfide, or CS2 as a sulfur source, when very low levels (20–30 μM) of sulfide were present; no growth occurred on 5–100 μM sulfide alone. Methanethiol, ethanethiol, and methyl sulfide-using cultures produced sulfide during growth.

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  1. Department of Microbiology, University of Iowa, 52242, Iowa City, Iowa, USA

    Basavapatna S. Rajagopal &  Lacy Daniels

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  1. Basavapatna S. Rajagopal
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  2. Lacy Daniels
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Rajagopal, B.S., Daniels, L. Investigation of mercaptans, organic sulfides, and inorganic sulfur compounds as sulfur sources for the growth of methanogenic bacteria. Current Microbiology 14, 137–144 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01568365

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