| Cross Index | Desulfosarcina variabilis |
| SuperSet | Prokaryote, Eubacteria Dissimilatory Sulfate or Sulfur-Reducing Bacteria |
| Compare | Desulferella acetivorans ,Desulfobacter Desulfobacterium, Desulfobulbus, Desulfococcus Desulfomicrobium Desulfomonas pigra reclassified as DesulfovibrioDesulfomonile tiedjei , Desulfonema ,Desulfosarcina variabilis Desulfotomaculum, Desulfovibrio Desulfuromonas acetoxidans Thermodesulfobacteriumacetoxidans |
| Contrast | Archaea |
| Subset |
| Morphology | Desulfosarcina variabilis |
| CELLULAR |
| Staining | Gram-negative.. |
| Morphology | Irregularly shaped cells occurring in large, sarcina-like packets which form sediments in liquid media. Repeated transfer from the culture supernatant fluid favours the development of coccoidal to ellipsoidal cells 1.0-1.5 um by 1.5-2.5 um which occur singly or in pairs. |
| Motility | Usually nonmotile, but cells motile by means of a single polar flagellum may occur |
| Specialized structures | Spore formation is not observed. Granules of poly-B-hydroxybutyrate frequently occur within the cells. |
| Division |
| COLONIAL |
| Solid surface | Colonies in anaerobic agar media are greyish to yellowish, compact and irregular in shape. |
| Liquid |
| Growth Parameters | Desulfosarcina variabilis |
| PHYSIOLOGICAL |
| Tropism | Chemoorganotrophic or chemoautotrophic, using formate, acetate, propionate, butyrate, higher fatty acids, other organic acids, alcohols and benzoate or similar aromatic compounds as electron donors for anaerobic respiration and also as carbon sources; these compounds are oxidized completely to CO2. For chemoautotrophic growth, H2 can serve as the electron donor and CO2 as the carbon source. Sulfate and other oxidized sulfur compounds serve as terminal electron acceptors and are reduced to H2S. In the absence of an external electron acceptor, growth occurs by fermentation of lactate or pyruvate to acetate and propionate. |
| Oxygen | Strictly anaerobic, having both a respiratory and a fermentative type of metabolism. |
| pH | |
| Temperature | Optimum growth temperature, 28-33`C |
| Requirements | Media containing a reductant and not less than 1.0% NaCl and 0.2% MgCl2.6H2O are necessary for growth |
| Products | |
| Enzymes | |
| Unique features |
| ENVIRONMENTAL |
| Habitat | Occur in the anaerobic parts of brackish water and marine habitats |
| Lifestyle | |
| Pathogenicity |
| Distribution |
| Genome | Desulfosarcina variabilis |
| G+C Mol % | 51.2 (Tm) |
| for type strain |
| Reference | Desulfosarcina variabilis |
| First citation | Widdel, F. 1981. Anaerober Abbau von Fettsauren und Benzoesaure durch neu Isolierte Arten Sulfat-reduzierender Bakterien. Dissertation. Georg-August-Univeritat zu Gottingen. Lindhorst/Schumburg-Lippe, Gottingen |
| The Prokaryotes | p |
| Bergey's Systematatic | p 677 F. Widdel and N. Pfennig |
| Bergey's Determinative | p 339 |
| References |