cupriavidus metallidurans cupriavidus metallidurans cupriavidus metallidurans is a non-spore-forming, gram-negative bacterium which is adapted to survive several forms of heavy metal stress. cupriavidus metallidurans scientific classification domain: bacteria phylum: pseudomonadota class: betaproteobacteria order: burkholderiales family: burkholderiaceae genus: cupriavidus binomial name cupriavidus metallidurans(goris et al. 2001) vandamme and coenye 2004 type strain atcc 43123, aka ch34 synonyms ralstonia metallidurans goris et al. 2001 wautersia metallidurans (goris et al. 2001) vaneechoutte et al. 2004 (not distinguished from ralstonia eutropha until 2001.) as a model and industrial system it is an ideal subject to study heavy metal disturbance of cellular processes. this bacterium shows a unique combination of advantages not present in this form in other bacteria. its genome (strain ch34) has been fully sequenced (preliminary, annotated sequence data were obtained from the doe joint genome institute) it is not pathogenic, therefore, models of the cell can also be tested in artificial environments similar to its natural habitats. it is related to the plant pathogen ralstonia solanacearum. it is of ecological importance since related bacteria are predominant in mesophilic heavy metal-contaminated environments. it is of industrial importance and used for heavy metal remediation and sensing. it is an aerobic chemolithoautotroph, facultatively able to grow in a mineral salts medium in the presence of h2, o2, and co2 without an organic carbon source. the energy-providing subsystem of the cell under these conditions is composed only of the hydrogenase, the respiratory chain, and the f1f0-atpase. this keeps this subsystem simple and clearly separated from the anabolic subsystems that starts with the calvin cycle for co2-fixation. it is able to degrade xenobiotics even in the presence of high heavy metal concentrations. finally, strain ch34 is adapted to the outlined harsh conditions by a multitude of heavy-metal resistance systems that are encoded by the two indigenous megaplasmids pmol28 and pmol30 on the bacterial chromosome(s). ecology a scanning electron microscope image of a gold nugget, revealing bacterioform (bacteria-shaped) structures c. metallidurans plays a vital role, together with delftia acidovorans, in the formation of gold nuggets. it precipitates metallic gold from a solution of gold(iii) chloride, a compound highly toxic to most other microorganisms.