Thermovibrio ammonificans sp. nov., a thermophilic, chemolithotrophic, nitrate-ammonifying bacterium from deep-sea hydrothermal vents.

A thermophilic, anaerobic, chemolithoautotrophic bacterium was isolated from the walls of an active deep-sea hydrothermal vent chimney on the East Pacific Rise at 9 degrees 50' N. Cells of the organism were Gram-negative, motile rods that were about 1.0 microm in length and 0.