Beggiatoa
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Cross-references Archaea Astrobiology Bacteria Biodeterioration (of Stone) Bioerosion Biofilms Biological Volcanic Rock Weathering Biosignatures in Rocks Deep Biosphere of the Ocean Deep Sea Early Earth Endoliths Fe(II)-Oxidizing Prokaryotes Fe(III)-Reducing Prokaryotes Fluorescence In Situ Hybridisation (FISH) Gallionella Hydrogen Hydrothermal Environments, Marine Isotopes and Geobiology Microbial Biomineralization Origin of Life Shewanella Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria
BEGGIATOA Heide N. Schulz-Vogt Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany
Definition Beggiatoa is a colorless, sulfur-storing bacterium belonging to the Gammaproteobacteria, filamentous, motile, and not attached. Bacteria of the genus Beggiatoa live by the oxidation of sulfide with oxygen or nitrate. They are benthic
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Beggiatoa, Figure 1 Beggiatoa filaments of 6 mm diameter seen under the light microscope with dark field illumination. The sulfur globules reflect the light and give the filaments their shinning white appearance.
organisms, which occur in almost all freshwater and marine environments where sulfide is present, e.g., wastewater, areas of coastal upwelling, salt marshes, hydrothermal vents, cold seeps, methane hydrates, etc. In contrast to most bacteria, Beggiatoa can be recognized by its typical morphology. It is a filamentous bacterium, which is motile by gliding and stores elemental sulfur inside, giving it a shinning white appearance (Figure 1). The filaments can be several millimeters to centimeters long and are formed by long rows of cells with diameters between 1 and 200 µm. The larger species of Beggiatoa (>5–10 µm in diameter) have a central vacuole, which they use for storing nitrate in high concentrations (ca 10–300 mM). Beggiatoa filaments typically occur as mats on top of the sediment or within the upper few centimeters. T
