Evolutionary relationships among sulfur- and iron-oxidizing eubacteria

Some 37 reverse transcriptase, partial 16S rRNA sequences from sulfur- and/or iron-oxidizing eubacteria, including sequences from species of the genera Thiobacillus, Thiothrix, Thiomicrospira, Acidophilium, 'Leptospirillum,' Thiovulum, and Chlorobium, have been determined. In addition, 16S sequences from a number of unnamed sulfur- and/or iron- oxidizing bacteria from hydrothermal vent sites, from invertebrate-bacterial endosymbioses, and from various mineral recovery operations also have been determined. The majority of sequences place their bacterial donors in one or another of the subdivisions of the Proteobacteria. However, three unnamed facultatively thermophilic iron-oxidizing isolates, Alv, BC, and TH3, are affiliated with the gram-positive division. One H₂S-oxidizer, from the genus Thiovulum, is affiliated with Campylobacter, Wolinella, and other genera in what appears to be a new subdivision of the Proteobacteria. Three 'Leptospirillum'-helical vibrioid isolates, BU-1, LfLa, and Z-2, exhibit no clear phylum level affiliation at all, other than their strong relationship to each other. A picture is emerging of an evolutionary widespread capacity for sulfur and/or iron oxidation among the eubacteria.