''Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris'' is a species of

Gram positive In bacteriology, gram-positive bacteria are bacteria that give a positive result in the Gram stain test, which is traditionally used to quickly classify bacteria into two broad categories according to their type of cell wall. Gram-positive bact ...

, strictly aerobic,

bacterium Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were a ...

. The bacteria are acidophilic and produce endospores. It was first isolated from soil. The species was originally classified as ''Bacillus acidoterrestris'' in 1987, but further 16S rRNA studies found that the species belonged in the newly created genus ''Alicyclobacillus''. The species name is derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

''acidum'' (acid) and ''terrestris'' (from the earth), referring to its acidophilic nature and that it was isolated from soil. ''Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris'' was among the first three species reclassified from the genus ''

Bacillus ''Bacillus'' (Latin "stick") is a genus of Gram-positive, rod-shaped bacteria, a member of the phylum '' Bacillota'', with 266 named species. The term is also used to describe the shape (rod) of other so-shaped bacteria; and the plural ''Bacil ...

'' to the newly created ''Alicyclobacillus'' in 1992, along with '' A. acidocaldarius'' and '' A. cycloheptanicus''. The optimum growth temperature for ''A. acidoterrestris'' is 42-53 °C, and can grow in the 35-55 °C range, and in pH 2.2-5.8.

References

Gram-positive bacteria Bacteria described in 1992 Bacillales {{bacilli-stub