Abstract
An unusual filamentous, gliding bacterium was found in a few hot springs in Oregon where it formed a nearly unispecific top layer of microbial mats. It contained a bacteriochlorophyll a-like pigment and an abundance of carotenoids. There were no chlorosomes or additional chlorophylls. The organism was aerotolerant and appeared to be photoheterotrophic. It was successfully co-cultured with an aerobic chemoheterotroph in a medium containing glucose and casamino acids. Although it has many characteristics in common with the genus Chloroflexus, the lack of chlorosomes and bacteriochlorophyll c and the aerobic nature of this organism indicate that it should be placed in a new genus. This conclusion is supported by 5S rRNA nucleotide sequence data.
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Pierson, B.K., Giovannoni, S.J., Stahl, D.A. et al. Heliothrix oregonensis, gen. nov., sp. nov., a phototrophic filamentous gliding bacterium containing bacteriochlorophyll a . Arch. Microbiol. 142, 164–167 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00447061
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00447061