n/a n/a 93.5% similarity with s. autrotrophica (ok10). 93.7-94.2% similarity with s. gotlandica. sulfurimonas gotlandica 33.6 mol% 66.4 mol% 93.7 - 94.2% similarity with all species. sulfurimonas paralvinellae 37.6 mol% 63.4 mol% 96.3% similarity with s. autrotrophica (ok10). 93.7-94.2% similarity with s. gotlandica. habitat sulfurimonas are commonly found in (sulfidogenic) habitats, such as marine sediments, deep-sea hydrothermal vents, pelagic redoxclines and oil fields . the habitats where they are found is reflected in their gene content; some members have fewer genes while others have more genes that are related to the environments where they occur. some of these genes allow the use of different electron donors and acceptors, enabling them to inhabit a range on environments. in deep-sea hydrothermal vents sulfide oxidation is the most important chemical energy source for sulfurimonas spp. coincidentally, high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide at deep-sea vents are produced by high temperature seawater-rock interactions . it is notable that microorganisms living in the deep, dark ocean oxidize sulfur compounds for chemolithoautotrophy; this process is microbially mediated . for example, sulfide quinone reductases (sqrs), found in all isolates of sulfurimonas spp. aids in the oxidation of sulfur- and thiosulfate-containing compounds. as well, hydrogenases and other enzymes allow this particular genus to colonize 'disparate' environments. due to the dependence on sulfur-containing compounds in the deep sea, this could create competition among species. bacterial mats are found at ~100 m water depth next to active hydrothermal vents. phylogenetic analysis showed that those bacterial mats consisted of bacteria within the genus sulfurimonas . similar bacterial mats are found commonly on seamounts created by underwater volcanoes, and by the instense volcanism at hydrothermal vents. hydrothermal venting favors the growth of bacterial mats in which sulfurimonas occurs, such as at the kamaʻehuakanaloa, axial, vailulu'u, and suiyo seamounts, and the mariana and kermadec arcs. biotic interactions predation sulfurimonas (subgroup gd17) dominates chemotrophic denitrification in the baltic sea pelagic redoxclines. using methods such as predator assays and bacterial amendment cultures, it was found that the population of sulfurimonas (subgroup gd17) had a doubling time of 1 to 1.5 days, which is much more than their average doubling time under the optimal conditions shown in table 1. however, grazing can consume the population over the course of one day. five active grazers that are typically found in redoxclines ciliates (oligohymenophorea, prostomatea), and marine flagellate groups (mast-4, chrysophyta, cercozoa), were found through the use of rna-sip. in cold-seep ecosystem, lithodid crabs (paralomis sp.), which are filter eaters, feed on thiotropic bacterial mats, which consist of many different types of bacteria. it was found that in the absence of other possible predictors, bacteria belonging to the genus sulfurimonas grow in a unimodal relationship, suggesting they increase in bacterial diversity and productivity. this means that without predictors, these bacteria can differentiate and grow exponentially . symbiosis sulfurimonas is a genus that is commonly observed in symbiosis with other organisms, mostly marine ringed worms. sulfurimonas paralvinellae is associated with deep-sea polychaete colonies located adjacent to hydrothermal vents. nests of these worms are covered with reduced sulfur particles produced by a combination of microbiological and chemical processes. these sulfur particles serve as a readily available energy source for bacteria belonging to the genus sulfurimonas. bioturbation by lugworms in shallow-water environments in the absence of oxygen enhances the metabolism of bacteria in the epsilonproteobacterium phylotype, which shows more than 95% similarity to sulfurimonas denitrificans. lugworm activities such as burrowing and peristaltic pumping make oxygen and carbon dioxide dissolved in the water go into the sediment. this enriched layer moves down and mixes with underlying sediment. oxygen that is taken from the water penetrates this anaerobic layer and creates sulphate available to be used by bacteria for metabolism. sulphide from the water may also be detoxified by lugworms by either a branched respiratory chain or redox regulation of sulphide oxidation. the end product of these reactions is thiosulphate, which becomes another energy source for chemoautotrophic bacteria colonizing the sediment competition bacteria belonging to the genus sulfurimonas are in competition with other sulfate-oxidizing bacteria (sob) for nutritional resources, and have been studied intensively due to their importance in the petroleum industry. sob communities constitute physiologically diverse members, such as the genera sulfurimonas, chlorobia, and chloroflexi. all of these genera are found in petroleum reservoirs, and sulfurimonas are present in high abundances. members of this genus occupied approximately 26% of reservoirs, all of which differ in temperature and relative proportions of other sob, which is further an indication that this genus is capable of growth at a wide range of temperatures. despite this, sulfurimonas are in competition with thioclava, sulfuricurvum, and thiohalomonas, which correlate with 15.4%, 12.0%, and 17.0% respectively. the majority of bacteria present in these reservoirs are uncultured bacteria, which have not been studied deeply. bacteria of the aforementioned genera derive their energy from the oxidation of reduced sulfur compounds (i.e. sulfide and thiosulfate), which suggests direct competition among them for sulfur-containing compounds food chain/web fig 7. simplified sulfurimonas food web / chain photo credits: suman rana members of the bacterial genus sulfurimonas are known to affect the relative abundance of species around them. in the case of s. gotlandica strain gd1, it was demonstrated that heterotrophic nanoflagellate (hnf) populations decreased while ciliate and dinoflagellate abundances remained relatively constant in oxygen / hydrogen sulphide rich conditions. conversely, the opposite trend was observed in suboxic conditions, in that hnf and ciliates increased in abundance, whereas dinoflagellates remained constant. these changes were attributed to both the presence of oxygen / hydrogen sulphide in the environment and the potential predation of hnf by s. gotlandica. in another study, it was found that five active grazers resides in redoxcline conditions, namely redoxcline ciliates, marine flagellate groups, and some cold-seep ecosystem species. in fact, these organisms are able to consume the entire sulfurimonas population in that particular area in a day environmental relevance in order to grow, sulfurimonas species consume both reduced sulfur species and oxidized nitrogen species. therefore, members of sulfurimonas directly affect biogeochemical cycling of these elements in environments where they exist and are numerically abundant. for example, sulfurimonas gotlandica may account for up to 25% of the microbial community in the baltic sea redoxcline based on card-fish cell counts and sulfurimonas spp. accounted for a significant number of the campylobacterota reads in a survey of microbial diversity at deep-sea diffuse flow vents using amplified 16s sequences. further research sulfurimonas hongkongensis is a newly discovered species within the genus of sulfurimonas. it was found in hong kong, near the coastal sediment at the kai tak approach channel connecting victoria harbour . it produces energy under anoxic conditions. its electron donor is thiosulfate, sulfide or hydrogen, and its electron acceptor is nitrate . its morphology is rod-shaped, and it grows at 15-35 °c (optimum at 30 °c), ph 6.5-8.5 (optimum at 7.0-7.5), and 10-60 g l−1 nacl (optimum at 30 g l−1) . its genome consists of 34.9% gc content, 2,290 protein-coding genes, and 42 rna genes (3 rrna genes). its major cellular fatty acids were c14:0 (4.8%), c16:0 (32.8%), 2-oh c16:0 (9.5%), c16:1 (14.6%), c18:0 (16.9%), and c18:1 (19.2%). the composition of these fatty acids are similar to those found in isolates of sulfurimonas paralvinellae' and sulfurimonas autotrophica', but there is a unique fatty acid, represented by 2-oh c16:0 that defined it is a different species from other members of the genus of sulfurimonas.