Pelotomaculum thermopropionicum gen. nov., sp. nov., an anaerobic, thermophilic, syntrophic propionate-oxidizing bacterium

An anaerobic, thermophilic, syntrophic propionate-oxidizing bacterium, strain SI^T, isolated previously from granular sludge in a thermophilic upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor, was characterized. The strain could grow fermentatively on pyruvate and fumarate in pure culture. The strain grew on propionate, ethanol, lactate, 1-butanol, 1-pentanol, 1,3-propanediol, 1-propanol and ethylene glycol in co-culture with the hydrogenotrophic methanogen Methanothermobacter thermautotrophicus strain ΔH^T . The optimum temperature for growth was 55 °C and the pH optimum was 7.0. The G+C content of the DNA was 52.8 mol %. Strain SI^T contained MK-7 and MK-7(H₄) as the major quinones and contained iso-C15:0 as the major fatty acid. Based on 16S rDNA sequence analysis, strain SI^T formed a novel lineage within the Gram-positive, spore-forming, sulphate-reducing bacterial group Desulfotomaculum. However, the strain lacked the ability to conduct dissimilatory sulphate reduction. Instead, it could reduce fumarate to succinate with concomitant growth on several organic substances as electron donor. These phenotypic and genetic properties support the formation of a novel species of a new genus, for which the name Pelotomaculum thermopropionicum gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is strain SI^T (= DSM 13744^T = JCM 10971^T).