Summary
Thiobacillus denitrificans, T. thioparus andT. thiocyanoxidans can oxidise thiocyanate to sulphur and sulphate aerobically and also anaerobically in the presence of nitrate.
T. thioparus andT. thiocyanoxidans are capable of growing anaerobically in media containing nitrate and either thiosulphate or thiocyanate. The reduction of nitrate by these species stops largely at the stage of nitrite and little or no gaseous reduction products are formed. This contrasts with the behaviour ofT. denitrificans which reduces nitrate ultimately to nitrogen.
On the basis of these results, it is suggested thatT. thiocyanoxidans is identical withT. thioparus. The maintenance ofT. denitrificans andT. thioparus as separate species can be justified, although the latter could be regarded as a metabolic variant of the former.
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De Kruyff, C.D., van der Walt, J.P. & Schwartz, H.M. The utilisation of thiocyanate and nitrate by thiobacilli. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 23, 305–316 (1957). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02545882
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02545882