Microbiology and Ecology of Filamentous Sulfur Formation

Abstract

A highly motile chemoautotrophic strain of hydrogen sulfide – oxidizing bacteria from coastal seawater produces solid sulfur filaments of dimensions 0.5 to 2.0 micrometers by 20 to 500 micrometers. Filamentous sulfur is rapidly produced by direct excretion by a vibrioid organism, and the newly produced filaments are thickened by the deposition of sulfur by other members of the population. Microscopic observations of the flocculent discharge material collected from diffuse-flow hydrothermal vents (9°N, East Pacific Rise) revealed that the material from this source is composed largely of filamentous sulfur of morphology nearly identical to that obtained in the model laboratory system.