Alkaliphilus oremlandii OhILAs

Alkaliphilus oremlandii (strain OhILAs) is a versatile strict anaerobic, spore-forming, mesophillic Gram-positive bacterium phylogenetically associated with the Firmicutes. Clostridium sp. OhILAs has been renamed to Alkaliphilus oremlandii OhILAs. A. oremlandii was isolated from sediments of the Ohio River (Pittsburgh, PA). This bacterium can ferment glycerol, fructose, and lactate, as well as respire arsenate and thiosulfate. It is one of four organisms that are being sequenced by the JGI as part of the "Arsenic Genome Project" to further elucidate the microbial transformation of arsenic. Although it grows optimally at pH 8.4, 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated it is an Alkaliphilus species. Alkaliphilus oremlandii OhILAs is unique in that it can tolerate high arsenate concentrations (>40 mM) and readily degrades the organoarsenical 3-nitro-4-hydroxy benzene arsonic acid (roxarsone) within 48 hours. Thus it has great potential for use in the remediation of organoarsenicals in poultry waste and a model organism to investigate the process. (PMID: 17328188). (EBI Integr8)