Members of the Modulibacteria phylum are known to cause fatal filament overgrowth (bulking) in high-rate industrial anaerobic wastewater treatment bioreactors.
[1][2] The Modulibacteria phylum was first proposed in 2006 by two independent research groups based on analyses of 16S rRNA gene sequences.
One group recovered Modulibacteria sequences from the a hypersaline microbial mat from Guerrero Negro (Baja California Sur, Mexico) and used the provisional name GN06 for the novel phylum,[3] while the other recovered sequences from sulfur-rich black mud marine sediments (CA, USA) and used the provisional name KSB3.
Through a combination of genome-based metabolic reconstruction and microscopic observation, it was determined that the two studied Modulibacteria species (Moduliflexus flocculans and Vecturithrix granuli) produce filamentous structures and are Gram-negative, strictly anaerobic fermenters capable of non-flagellar based gliding motility.
[5] Members of the Modulibacteria phylum have been detected in a variety of environments in addition to bioreactors and hypersaline mats, such as wetland sediments (FJ516883.1), the dolphin mouth,[6][7] and a tubeworm from a coldseep (FM165273).