A.ci.di.pla'.sma. N.L. neut. n. acidum an acid; Gr. neut. n. plasma shaped or moulded; N.L. neut. n. Acidiplasma an acid-living moulded form.

Euryarchaeota / Thermoplasmata / Thermoplasmatales / Ferroplasmaceae / Acidiplasma

Acidiplasma (Golyshina et al. 2009, 2821VP) is one of the two described genera within the family Ferroplasmaceae, the order Thermoplasmatales. Acidiplasma comprises two species with validly published names: Acidiplasma aeolicum and Acidiplasma cupricumulans firstly described as Ferroplasma cupricumulans. Cells of the genus Acidiplasma are generally pleomorphic, from coccoid- to rod-like forms with widths from 0.2 to 0.5 µm and lengths from 0.5 to 3 µm. Nonmotile. Cell wall deficient. Acidophilic and moderately thermophilic. Able to oxidize and reduce iron. Facultatively anaerobic. Principal respiratory quinones are naphtoquinone derivatives. Main membrane lipids are dibiphytanyl-based tetraethers containing pentacyclic rings. Main sugar component in dibiphytanyl phosphoglycerol lipids is β-galactose. Inhabit sulfides-containing ore deposits and volcanic environments.