Desulfobacter hydrogenophilus

Desulfobacter hydrogenophilus is a strictly anaerobic sulfate-reducing bacterium. It was isolated and characterized in 1987 by Friedrich Widdel of the University of Konstanz (Germany). Like most sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB), D. hydrogenophilus is capable of completely oxidizing organic compounds (specifically acetate, pyruvate and ethanol) to CO₂, and therefore plays a key role in biomineralization in anaerobic marine environments. However, unlike many SRB, D. hydrogenophilus is a facultative lithoautotroph, and can grow using H₂ as an electron donor and CO₂ as a carbon source. D. hydrogenophilus is also unique because it is psychrophilic (and has been shown to grow at temperatures as low as 0 °C or 32 °F). It is also diazotrophic, or capable of fixing nitrogen.