Sulfur metabolism

[4] Members of the chemotrophic Acidithiobacillus genus are able to oxidize a vast range of reduced sulfur compounds, but are restricted to acidic environments.

Food chains have formed in the absence of sunlight around hydrothermal vents, which emit hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide.

Some bacteria use light energy to couple sulfur oxidation to carbon dioxide (CO2) fixation for growth.

Typically, sulfur globules accumulate intracellularly in Chromatiaceae and extracellularly in Ectothiorhodospiraceae, which is one distinguishing feature between these two groups of PSB.

[8] GSB are found within the family Chlorobiaceae generally oxidize sulfide or elemental sulfur, but some members are able to utilize thiosulfate.

[10] Sulfate can serve as an electron acceptor in anaerobic respiration and can also be reduced for the formation of organic compounds.

[11] These processes typically produce hydrogen sulfide as a byproduct, which can go on to serve as an electron donor in sulfur oxidation.

[16] Elemental sulfur disproportionation is restricted to environments where the concentration of the sulfide products are kept low, which typically happens in the presence of scavenging minerals that contain iron or manganese.