The metabolic versatility of Thermotogae members leads to a pool of high value-added products with application potentials in many industry fields.

They have been isolated from extremely hot environments whose characteristics are reflected in the metabolic and phenotypic properties of the Thermotogae species. The phylum Thermotogae is composed of a single class (Thermotogae), 4 orders (Thermotogales, Kosmotogales, Petrotogales, Mesoaciditogales), 5 families (Thermatogaceae, Fervidobacteriaceae, Kosmotogaceae, Petrotogaceae, Mesoaciditogaceae), and 13 genera. Based on the phylogenetic analysis and physiological properties of the novel isolate, we propose a novel species, Thermosipho affectus sp. 16S rRNA gene sequence identity with the other species of the genus Thermosipho ranged from 93.7 to 94.5 %. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain ik275mar(T) is a member of the genus Thermosipho. Acetate, H(2) and CO(2) were the main products of glucose fermentation.

The isolate was able to ferment carbohydrates including starch, cellulose and cellulose derivatives. Under optimum conditions (70 ☌, pH 6.6, NaCl 20 g l(-1)), doubling time was 32 min. Cells were rods surrounded by a sheath-like structure (toga), 0.4-0.9 µm in width and 1.2-6.0 µm in length. A novel obligately anaerobic, extremely thermophilic, organotrophic bacterium, strain ik275mar(T), was isolated from a Mid-Atlantic Ridge deep-sea hydrothermal vent.

Et affectus