''Thioflavicoccus'' is a

Gram-negative Gram-negative bacteria are bacteria that, unlike gram-positive bacteria, do not retain the crystal violet stain used in the Gram staining method of bacterial differentiation. Their defining characteristic is that their cell envelope consists ...

, obligately

phototroph Phototrophs () are organisms that carry out photon capture to produce complex organic compounds (e.g. carbohydrates) and acquire energy. They use the energy from light to carry out various cellular metabolic processes. It is a list of common m ...

ic, strictly

anaerobic Anaerobic means "living, active, occurring, or existing in the absence of free oxygen", as opposed to aerobic which means "living, active, or occurring only in the presence of oxygen." Anaerobic may also refer to: *Adhesive#Anaerobic, Anaerobic ad ...

and motile genus of bacteria from the family of

Chromatiaceae The Chromatiaceae are one of the two families of purple sulfur bacteria, together with the Ectothiorhodospiraceae. They belong to the order Chromatiales of the class Gammaproteobacteria, which is composed by unicellular Gram-negative bacteria, Gr ...

with one known species (''

Thioflavicoccus mobilis ''Thioflavicoccus'' is a Gram-negative, obligately phototrophic, strictly Anaerobic organism, anaerobic and motile genus of bacteria from the family of Chromatiaceae with one known species (''Thioflavicoccus mobilis''). ''Thioflavicoccus mobilis ...

''). ''Thioflavicoccus mobilis'' was first discovered during a 1986 "Microbial Diversity" summer course. The microbe was isolated from a flat, laminated microbial mat in a

salt marsh A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. I ...

and was determined to be a marine bacterium.Imhoff, J. F., & Pfennig, N. (2001). Thioflavicoccus mobilis gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel purple sulfur bacterium with bacteriochlorophyll b. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, 51(1), 105–110. doi: 10.1099/00207713-51-1-105 The culture was collected from the

Great Sippewisset Salt Marsh The Sippewissett microbial mat is a microbial mat in the Sippewissett Salt Marsh located along the lower eastern Buzzards Bay shoreline of Cape Cod, about 5 miles north of Woods Hole and 1 mile southwest of West Falmouth, Massachusetts, in the Unite ...

Woods Hole, Massachusetts Woods Hole is a census-designated place in the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It lies at the extreme southwestern corner of Cape Cod, near Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands. The population was 78 ...

; it was found to be the first

purple sulfur bacteria The purple sulfur bacteria (PSB) are part of a group of Pseudomonadota capable of photosynthesis, collectively referred to as purple bacteria. They are anaerobic or microaerophilic, and are often found in stratified water environments includi ...

that contained

bacteriochlorophyll Bacteriochlorophylls (BChl) are photosynthetic pigments that occur in various phototrophic bacteria. They were discovered by C. B. van Niel in 1932. They are related to chlorophylls, which are the primary pigments in plants, algae, and cyanobacte ...

''b'' as the main photosynthetic pigment. When ''T. mobilis'' was first analyzed, it was misidentified as '' Thiocapsa pfennigii'' due to its similarities in morphology and structure, but this was later disproved with

16S rDNA 16S ribosomal RNA (or 16 S rRNA) is the RNA component of the 30S subunit of a prokaryotic ribosome (SSU rRNA). It binds to the Shine-Dalgarno sequence and provides most of the SSU structure. The genes coding for it are referred to as 16S rRNA ...

sequencing.

Morphology and structure

The average cell size for a well-grown culture of ''T. mobilis'' is 0.8 to 1.0 nm (

nanometer 330px, Different lengths as in respect to the Molecule">molecular scale. The nanometre (international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: nm), or nanometer (American spelling Despite the va ...

s) in diameter. It has a rod and

diplococcus Bacterial cellular morphologies are the shapes that are characteristic of various types of bacteria and often key to their identification. Their direct examination under a light microscope enables the classification of these bacteria (and archaea ...

shape before reproduction, and is highly motile with the use of a monopolar monotrichous

flagella A flagellum (; : flagella) (Latin for 'whip' or 'scourge') is a hair-like appendage that protrudes from certain plant and animal sperm cells, from fungal spores ( zoospores), and from a wide range of microorganisms to provide motility. Many pr ...

. ''T. mobilis'' stains

and has a tubular, intracellular photosynthetic membrane system. Like ''

Thiococcus pfennigii ''Thiococcus'' is a Gram-negative, non‐motile, obligately phototrophic and strictly anaerobic genus of bacteria from the family of Chromatiaceae with one known species ('' Thiococcus pfennigii''). ''Thiococcus pfennigii'' was first isolated fro ...

'', ''T. mobilis'' ranges from a yellowish-beige to orange-brown tint. However, pigment extractions and co-chromatography showed that 3,4,3',4'- tetrahydrospirilloxanthin is the main

carotenoid Carotenoids () are yellow, orange, and red organic pigments that are produced by plants and algae, as well as several bacteria, archaea, and fungi. Carotenoids give the characteristic color to pumpkins, carrots, parsnips, corn, tomatoes, cana ...

of ''T. mobilis. T. mobilis'' is a strictly

and obligately

ic microbe which uses

hydrogen sulfide Hydrogen sulfide is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless chalcogen-hydride gas, and is toxic, corrosive, and flammable. Trace amounts in ambient atmosphere have a characteristic foul odor of rotten eggs. Swedish chemist ...

and elemental

sulfur Sulfur ( American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphur ( Commonwealth spelling) is a chemical element; it has symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms ...

as electron donors in natural environments.

Genetic

The DNA base composition for ''T. mobilis'' is 66.5 mol% G+C and ''T. mobilis'' reproduces through

binary fission Binary may refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * Binary number, a representation of numbers using only two values (0 and 1) for each digit * Binary function, a function that takes two arguments * Binary operation, a mathematical o ...

.Thioflavicoccus mobilis (ID 11439). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genome/?term=Thioflavicoccus mobilis It's closest relative is ''Thiococcus pfennigii'', which the 8320 strain of ''T. mobilis'' shares a 91.8% similarity with. After the sequencing of

, it was indicated that ''T. mobilis'' should be classified within the family

. The entire

genome A genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding genes, other functional regions of the genome such as ...

has been sequenced, with a genome size of 4.13752 Mb and a protein count of 3538.

Environment and culture

The natural habitat of ''T. mobilis'' are laminated microbial mats found within salt marshes. To best culture ''T. mobilis,'' pH levels must be between 7.2 and 7.4, salt levels should be at 2% with

NaCl Sodium chloride , commonly known as edible salt, is an ionic compound with the chemical formula NaCl, representing a 1:1 ratio of sodium and chloride ions. It is transparent or translucent, brittle, hygroscopic, and occurs as the mineral hali ...

being required for growth, and ideal temperatures should be between 25-30 °C. ''T. mobilis'' will not grow in

oxic Hypoxia (''hypo'': 'below', ''oxia'': 'oxygenated') refers to low oxygen conditions. Hypoxia is problematic for air-breathing organisms, yet it is essential for many anaerobic organisms. Hypoxia applies to many situations, but usually refers t ...

and/or

microoxic {{Short pages monitor