Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans
| Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans | |
|---|---|
| Endospore of C. hydrogenoformans | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Bacteria |
| Kingdom: | Bacillati |
| Phylum: | Bacillota |
| Class: | Clostridia |
| Order: | Carboxydothermales |
| Family: | Carboxydothermaceae |
| Genus: | Carboxydothermus |
| Species: | C. hydrogenoformans
|
| Binomial name | |
| Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans Svetlichny 1991
| |
Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans is an extremely thermophilic anaerobic Gram-positive bacterium that has the interesting property of producing hydrogen as a waste product while feeding on carbon monoxide and water. It also forms endospores.
It was isolated from a hot spring on the Russian volcanic island of Kunashir by Svetlichny et al. in 1991. Its complete genome was sequenced in 2005 by a team of scientists of the Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR).
According to TIGR evolutionary biologist Jonathan Eisen, "C. hydrogenoformans is one of the fastest-growing microbes that can convert water and carbon monoxide to hydrogen." The microbe owes this to the fact that it has at least five different forms of carbon monoxide dehydrogenase.