Metallosphaera

Me . tal . lo . sphae ' ra . L. neut. n. metallum ore; L. fem. n. sphaera sphere; M.L. fem. n. Metallosphaera the metal‐mobilizing sphere. Crenarchaeota / Thermoprotei / Sulfolobales / Sulfolobaceae / Metallosphaera Cells regular to irregular cocci with a diameter of 0.6–1.5 µm (Figure 1). Gram negative. Motile by possession of one or more flagella. Obligate aerobic . Facultatively chemolithoautotrophic . Lithotrophic growth on sulfidic ores like pyrite, sphalerite, and chalcopyrite, and on S 0 resulting in the production of sulfuric acid. Aerobic hydrogen oxidation. Organotrophic growth on beef extract , peptone , and yeast extract . No growth by anaerobic sulfur reduction. Optimal growth temperature around 75 ° C between pH 1 and 4 . 5 . Based on 16S rRNA sequence data, the Metallosphaera species are members of the family Sulfolobaceae and form a cluster with the representatives of the genus Acidianus (Fuchs et al., 1996a). The mol % G + C of the DNA is : 45. Type species : Metallosphaera sedula Huber, Spinnler, Gambacorta and Stetter 1989b, 496 (Effective publication: Huber, Spinnler, Gambacorta and Stetter 1989a, 46).