The obligately autotrophic acidophile Thiobacillusferrooxidans was grown on elemental sulfur in anaerobic batch cultures, using ferric iron as an electron acceptor. During anaerobic growth, ferric iron present in the growth media was quantitatively reduced to ferrous iron. The doubling time in anaerobic cultures was approximately 24 h. Anaerobic growth did not occur in the absence of elemental sulfur or ferric iron. During growth, a linear relationship existed between the concentration of ferrous iron accumulated in the cultures and the cell density. The results suggest that femc iron may be an important electron acceptor for the oxidation of sulfur compounds in acidic environments.

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Nuclepore polycarbonate filters floating on a liquid, FeSO4-containing medium (pH 1.6) were used to isolate a moderately thermophilic bacterium from a pyrite-oxidizing enrichment culture. The isolate failed to grow on any of the conventional solid media tried. To test the general applicability of the method, the enumeration of a fastidious acidophilic organism, Thiobacillus ferrooxidans, was carried out and the results compared with those obtained with other filters, solid media, and the most probable number technique. T. ferrooxidans showed better viability on the floating polycarbonate ifiters and grew in a much shorter time (4 to 5 days) than with the other techniques.