Green sulfur bacteria
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Chlorobium |
The green sulfur bacteria (Chlorobiaceae) are a family of phototrophic bacteria. No other bacterial families are known to be closely related to them, and they are accordingly placed in their own phylum (Chlorobi). The phylum is most closely related to Bacteroidetes.
Green sulfur bacteria are generally nonmotile (one species has a flagellum), and come in spheres, rods, and spirals. Their environment must be oxygen-free, and they need light to grow. They engage in photosynthesis, using bacteriochlorophylls c, d, and e in vesicles called chlorosomes attached to the membrane. They use sulfide ions as electron donor, and in the process the sulfide gets oxidized, producing globules of elemental sulfur outside the cell, which may then be further oxidized. (By contrast, the photosynthesis in plants uses water as electron donor and produces oxygen.)
External link
- "The Family Chlorobiaceae" (http://141.150.157.117:8080/prokPUB/chaprender/jsp/showchap.jsp?chapnum=323) in The Prokaryotes by Jörg Overmann