Thiosulfate reduction and alanine production in glucose fermentation by members of the genus Coprothermobacter

Coprothermobacter platensis is an anaerobic, proteolytic, thermophilic bacterium, which is phylogenetically related to the genera Fervidobacterium and Thermotoga. The organism was found to reduce thiosulfate to sulfide during growth on carbohydrates and proteinaceous substrates. Growth on glucose was inhibited by hydrogen, but this inhibition was overcome by thiosulfate reduction, stirring, increasing the headspace volume and coculturing with a hydrogen-consuming methanogen. Alanine was detected during glucose fermentation, its formation was influenced by the hydrogen concentration in the gas phase suggesting an electron sink mechanism, as was previously reported for the phylogenetically related Thermotogales and the archaeal hyperthermophile Pyrococcus furiosus.