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Ecology of Phototrophic Sulfur Bacteria

  • Chapter
Sulfur Metabolism in Phototrophic Organisms

Part of the book series: Advances in Photosynthesis and Respiration ((AIPH,volume 27))

Anoxygenic phototrophic sulfur bacteria florish where light reaches sulfidic water layers or sediments. Their often dense communities have continuously attracted the attention of microbiologists. Although the major fraction of the existing diversity of phototrophic sulfur bacteria remains to be explored, ecophysiological studies have revealed a number of selective factors which govern the growth and the survival of phototrophic sulfur bacteria in the environment. Some novel aspects of the ecology of phototrophic sulfur bacteria have become apparent recently. Representing the most extremely low-light adapted photosynthetic organisms known to date, a brown-colored Chlorobium strain colonizes the chemocline of the Black Sea and is capable of maintaining a stable population at 0.0007% of surface light intensity. Besides the light intensity, the spectral composition of ambient light is a selective factor for the composition of anoxygenic phototrophic communities. A strong competition for infrared light occurs in laminated microbial benthic mats where phototrophic sulfur bacteria occupy their niches according to their long wavelength absorption properties. During evolution this apparently has led to the formation of a novel type of pigment-protein complex which was recently detected in a benthic Chromatiaceae species. Thirdly, the capability to establish a highly specialized symbiosis with motile Proteobacteria enabled some species of green sulfur bacteria to acquire motility. In these phototrophic consortia, a rapid signal transfer exists between the two partners and permits a scotophobic response toward light required by the immotile green sulfur bacterial epibiont. The isolation and characterization of dominant species of phototrophic sulfur bacteria and an improved understanding of their particular niche has also implications for the interpretation of molecular fossils of these bacteria which have been detected in sedimentary rocks of all geological eras and interpreted as evidence for the existence of extended oceanic anoxia in the past.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department Biologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, D-80638, München, Germany

    Jörg Overmann

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  1. Jörg Overmann
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  1. University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 360, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany

    Rüdiger Hell

  2. University of Bonn, Meckenheimer Allee 168, 53115, Bonn, Germany

    Christiane Dahl

  3. Texas Tech University, 79409-1061, Lubbock, TX, USA

    David Knaff

  4. Rutgers University, 59 Dudley Road, 08901-8520, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

    Thomas Leustek

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Overmann, J. (2008). Ecology of Phototrophic Sulfur Bacteria. In: Hell, R., Dahl, C., Knaff, D., Leustek, T. (eds) Sulfur Metabolism in Phototrophic Organisms. Advances in Photosynthesis and Respiration, vol 27. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6863-8_19

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