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Higher order taxa:
Bacteria; Proteobacteria; Betaproteobacteria; Burkholderiales; unclassified
Burkholderiales; Burkholderiales Genera incertae sedis
Leptothrix - a sheated filamentous chemolitotroph
Leptothrix bacteria can be found in aquatic environments that contain sufficient amounts of organic matter. The optimal temperatures at which they grow are between 10-35oC and a pH of 6.5-7.5. Iron Bacteria can be found in streams, lakes, ponds and oceans. Some Leptothrix live in wastewater treatment plants where they may clog pipes and other parts of the system.
Leptothrix is not known to pose any environmental or human health risk.
image of
the Leptothirx mat in optical microscope
thick iron
precipitate on Leptothrix filaments (and some naked filaments - right)
image of
the Leptothrix structure with almost completely removed iron precipitate
(removing of Fe precipitate here)
Useful links in connection to Leptothrix:
What is the red in the water? - USGS
Biomineralization of ZnS (sphalerite) at the Tennyson mine, WI
Bacteria: The Proteobacteria - textbook
Iron bacteria plugging fracture in an injection well - USGS
Slide presentation about iron bacteria, cyanobacteria and algae
Genus Leptothrix - Bacterial Nomenclature Up-to-Date
Genus Leptothrix - Bacterial Nomenclature
National Library of Medicine - Leptothrix
Leptothrix discophora SP-6: Effects of Biofilms on Passive Film Chemistry
Leptothrix discophora; RNA; 117 BP.
Leptothrix cholodnii - basic data, cultivation (in Czech)
Photomicrographs of bacteria that precipitate iron and manganese
Stoffkreisläufe bei der Einwirkung von Mikroorganismen (in German)
The presence of bacteria in extremely alkaline (pH>12) groundwater
Microbial population explosion
Recent advances in the study of biocorrosion - an overview
Manganese removal by chemical and microbial oxidation
