Halodesulfurarchaeum

Ha.lo.de.sul.fur.ar.chae'um. Gr. n. hals, halos salt of the sea; L. pref. de-, from; L. n. sulfur, sulfur; N.L. neut. n. archaeum archaeon from Gr. adj. archaios-ê-on ancient; N.L. neut. n. Halodesulfurarchaeum sulfur-reducing haloarchaeon. The genus Halodesulfurarchaeum, classified within the family Halobacteriaceae, order Halobacteriales, and in the class Halobacteria, consists of obligately anaerobic extremely halophilic euryarchaea that grow by oxida- tion of H2 or formate with elemental sulfur, DMSO, or thiosulfate (some strains) as the electron acceptor, rep- resenting a first example of lithoheterotrophy in the class Halobacteria. Strains have been isolated from sedi- ments of various terrestrial hypersaline chloride-sulfate lakes, marine solar salterns, and deep-sea hypersaline brines in the Mediterranean. The genus consists of one species Halodesulfurarchaeum formicicum, which is the type species of the genus. DNA G + C content (mol%): 63.6 - 63.8 mol% (genome).