The ''Thioalkalibacteraceae'' are a family of
extremophiles
An extremophile (from Latin ' meaning "extreme" and Greek ' () meaning "love") is an organism that is able to live (or in some cases thrive) in extreme environments, i.e. environments that make survival challenging such as due to extreme tempe ...
, namely halophilic, alkaliphilic or alkalitolerant, mesophilic to thermophilic obligately
chemolithoautotrophic A lithoautotroph is an organism which derives energy from reactions of reduced compounds of mineral (inorganic) origin. Two types of lithoautotrophs are distinguished by their energy source; photolithoautotrophs derive their energy from light while ...
organisms in the ''
Chromatiales'' comprising the genus ''
Thioalkalibacter
''Thioalkalibacter'' is a faculatively alkaliphilic and halophilic genus of bacteria from the family of Thioalkalibacteraceae
The ''Thioalkalibacteraceae'' are a family of extremophiles, namely halophilic, alkaliphilic or alkalitolerant, meso ...
''
and ''
Guyparkeria
''Guyparkeria'' is a genus in the ''Gammaproteobacteria''. Both species are obligate aerobic bacteria; they require oxygen to grow. They are also halophilic and have varying degrees of thermophilicity. They live in environments with high concen ...
''.
The family is closely related to the family ''
Halothiobacillaceae
The Halothiobacillaceae are a family of halotolerant, mesophilic, and obligate chemolithoautotrophic organisms in the '' Chromatiales'' comprising the genus ''Halothiobacillus
''Halothiobacillus'' is a genus in the ''Gammaproteobacteria''. B ...
'' of halotolerant, mesophilic obligate autotrophs.
The type genus of the family is ''
Thioalkalibacter
''Thioalkalibacter'' is a faculatively alkaliphilic and halophilic genus of bacteria from the family of Thioalkalibacteraceae
The ''Thioalkalibacteraceae'' are a family of extremophiles, namely halophilic, alkaliphilic or alkalitolerant, meso ...
'', and both genera in the family are obligate
autotroph
An autotroph or primary producer is an organism that produces complex organic compounds (such as carbohydrates, fats, and proteins) using carbon from simple substances such as carbon dioxide,Morris, J. et al. (2019). "Biology: How Life Works", ...
s that fix
carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is t ...
into biological material using the
Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle
The Calvin cycle, light-independent reactions, bio synthetic phase, dark reactions, or photosynthetic carbon reduction (PCR) cycle of photosynthesis is a series of chemical reactions that convert carbon dioxide and hydrogen-carrier compounds into ...
(using form IAc
RuBisCO
Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase, commonly known by the abbreviations RuBisCo, rubisco, RuBPCase, or RuBPco, is an enzyme () involved in the first major step of carbon fixation, a process by which atmospheric carbon dioxide is co ...
) and oxidise
sulfur
Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formul ...
oxyanions, sulfide and elementary sulfur as their electron donor. All genera use ubiquinone-8 as their major respiratory quinone and have a G+C fraction of 54-68 mol%. Unlikely the closely related family the ''
Halothiobacillaceae
The Halothiobacillaceae are a family of halotolerant, mesophilic, and obligate chemolithoautotrophic organisms in the '' Chromatiales'' comprising the genus ''Halothiobacillus
''Halothiobacillus'' is a genus in the ''Gammaproteobacteria''. B ...
'', no detectable
polythionate intermediates of sulfur oxidation are detectable, and the ''Thioalkalibacteracaceae'' are obligate halophiles rather than halotolerant, as well as alkaliphilic or alkalitolerant, rather than mesophilic or acidotolerant.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q48999588
Bacteria families
Chromatiales