''Desulfovibrio desulfuricans'' is a

Gram-negative Gram-negative bacteria are bacteria that do not retain the crystal violet stain used in the Gram staining method of bacterial differentiation. They are characterized by their cell envelopes, which are composed of a thin peptidoglycan cell wa ...

sulfate-reducing bacteria Sulfate-reducing microorganisms (SRM) or sulfate-reducing prokaryotes (SRP) are a group composed of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and sulfate-reducing archaea (SRA), both of which can perform anaerobic respiration utilizing sulfate () as termina ...

. It is generally found in soils, waters, and the stools of animals, although in rare cases it has been found to cause infection in humans. It is particularly noted for its ability to produce

methyl mercury Methylmercury (sometimes methyl mercury) is an organometallic cation with the formula . It is the simplest organomercury compound. Methylmercury is extremely toxic, and its derivatives are the major source of organic mercury for humans. It is ...

. Also the 'reductive glycine pathway', a seventh route for organisms to capture , was discovered in this species. Since these bacteria are killed by exposure to atmospheric oxygen, the environmental niches most frequently occupied by these bacteria are anaerobic. ''Desulfovibrio desulfuricans 27774'' was reported to produce gene transfer agentsRapp, Barbara J., and Judy D. Wall. "Genetic transfer in Desulfovibrio desulfuricans." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 84.24 (1987): 9128-9130.

Morphology

''Desulfovibrio desulfuricans'' has been described as a motile,

rod-shaped A bacillus (), also called a bacilliform bacterium or often just a rod (when the context makes the sense clear), is a rod-shaped bacterium or archaeon. Bacilli are found in many different taxonomic groups of bacteria. However, the name '' Baci ...

, Gram-negative

obligate anaerobe Obligate anaerobes are microorganisms killed by normal atmospheric concentrations of oxygen (20.95% O2). Oxygen tolerance varies between species, with some species capable of surviving in up to 8% oxygen, while others lose viability in environme ...

with polar flagella. It measures approximately 3μm by 0.5μm.

References

External links

''D. desulfuricans'
genome
from

NCBI The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) is part of the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), a branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It is approved and funded by the government of the United States. The ...

Type strain of ''Desulfovibrio desulfuricans'' at Bac''Dive'' - the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1201021 Martinus Beijerinck Desulfovibrio