An unusual strain of Desulfovibrio sp. from an Antarctic lake

Abstract An unusual sulphate-reducing bacterium was isolated from Lake Fryxell, Antarctica. Designated strain FESu, it illustrates the difficulty in assigning some isolates of Desulfovibrio spp. to a described species. FESu was characterized by its relatively low mol% G + C (45%), its rod-shaped morphology, inability to grow on lactate, pyruvate, malate or choline in the absence of sulphate, and by its lack of desulfoviridin.