nitratiruptor nitratiruptor nitratiruptor sp. (strain sb155-2) is a genus of deep sea gram-negative campylobacterota isolated from iheya north hydrothermal field in okinawa trough (japan). this rod-shaped microorganism (0.5 x 1.5 µm) grows chemolithoautotrophically in a wide variety of electron donors and acceptors (i.e. sulfur, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrate) in absence of light and oxygen. it is also a thermophilic group capable of growing within the range of 37–65 °c with the optimal at 55 °c. nitratiruptor scientific classification domain: bacteria phylum: campylobacterota class: order: family: genus: nitratiruptornakagawa et al. 2005 type species nitratiruptor tergarcus species n. tergarcus genetic features dapi stained nitratiruptor cells (sb155-2) growing in laboratory conditions nitratiruptor sp. genome is composed by a single circular chromosome of 1,877,931 bp with the gc content of 43.8% and 39.7%. due to the geochemical variability in the deep-sea hydrothermal vents, nitratiruptor sp. displays a metabolic versatility to adapt to this hostile environments which includes sharp gradients in energy sources, electron acceptors or carbon sources. for instance, due to the metal-rich fluids characterizing this areas, a total of 17 genes related with transports systems and detoxification mechanisms of heavy metals (including as, cd and cu) were described. despite this not being a pathogenic bacterium, it possess some virulence genes (including virulence factor mvin, hemolysin or n-linked glycosylation gene cluster) which provide insights into the origins of virulence in their pathogenic relatives, helicobacter and campylobacter species.