Desulfovibrio

Desulfovibrio
Scientific classification
Domain:	Bacteria
Phylum:	Thermodesulfobacteriota
Class:	Desulfovibrionia
Order:	Desulfovibrionales
Family:	Desulfovibrionaceae
Genus:	Desulfovibrio Kluyver & van Niel 1936
Type species
Desulfovibrio desulfuricans (Beijerinck 1895) Kluyver & van Niel 1936
Species
See text
Synonyms
Desulfomonas Moore, Johnson & Holdeman 1976 "Sporovibrio" Starkey 1938

Desulfovibrio is a genus of Gram-negative sulfate-reducing bacteria. Desulfovibrio species are commonly found in aquatic environments with high levels of organic material, as well as in water-logged soils, and form major community members of extreme oligotrophic habitats such as deep granitic fractured rock aquifers. They're also found in the guts of beetles, such as Melolontha melolontha, where they perform sulfate reduction.^[1]

High amounts of Desulfovibrio bacteria have been associated with inflammatory bowel disease, bacteremia infections and Parkinson's disease.^[2][3]

Some Desulfovibrio species have in recent years been shown to have bioremediation potential for toxic radionuclides such as uranium by a reductive bioaccumulation process, such as converting highly water-soluble U(VI) to relatively insoluble U(IV) precipitate, thus removing the toxic uranium from contaminated water.^[4]