Bacillus infernus sp. nov., an Fe(III)- and Mn(IV)-reducing anaerobe from the deep terrestrial subsurface

Bacillus infernus sp. nov. was isolated from ca. 2,700 m below the land surface in the Taylorsville Triassic Basin in Virginia. B. infernus was a strict anaerobe that grew on formate or lactate with Fe(III), MnO2, trimethylamine oxide, or nitrate (reduced to nitrite) as an electron acceptor, and it also grew fermentatively on glucose. Type strain TH-23 and five reference strains were gram-positive rods that were thermophilic (growth occurred at 61 degrees C), halotolerant (good growth occurred in the presence of Na+ concentrations up to 0.6 M), and very slightly alkaliphilic (good growth occurred at pH 7.3 to 7.8). A phylogenetic analysis of its 16S rRNA indicated that B. infernus should be classified as a new species of the genus Bacillus. B. infernus is the only strictly anaerobic species in the genus Bacillus.