Deferribacteres

Deferribacteres is a phylum of anaerobic bacteria whose members typically respire using metals or other inorganic compounds, such as iron or manganese, rather than oxygen, a process called dissimilatory metal reduction. Members have been isolated from a range of environments including marine sediments, oil fields, and animal digestive tracts, and the name of the phylum reflects the iron reducing metabolism found in several of its best studied genera.