Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum DSM 571 employs a variety of enzymes for the efficient degradation of starch, amylose and pullulan (1,2) and has been shown to associate with C. thermocellum in high temperature, cellulose-degrading environments (3). Such co-cultures of cellulose-degrading and xylose- utilizing bacteria have been proposed as an efficient means of converting cellulosic compounds to ethanol and other byproducts (3,4). A genetic system has been developed for this species (5).

References

1. Ganghofner, D., Kellermann, J., Staudenbauer, W. L. & Bronnenmeier, K. (1997)
Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem. 62, 302-8.
2. Feng, P.-H., Berensmeier, S., Buchholz, K. & Reilly, P. J. (2002) St?rke 54, 328-337.
3. Lynd, L. R., Weimer, P. J., van Zyl, W. H. & Pretorius, I. S. (2002) Mol. Biol. R. 66, 506-577.
4. Das, H. & Singh, S. K. (2004) Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition 44, 77-89.
5. Tyurin, M. V., Lynd, L. R. & Wiegel, J. (2006) in Methods in Microbiology, eds. Oren, A. & Rainey, F., Vol. 35, pp. 309-330.

Above paragraph from - Hemme, Christopher L., et al., Genomic Sequencing of Multiple Species of Class Clostridia Relevant to the Production of Bioethanol from Cellulosic Feedstocks Submitted by: The Clostridia Sequencing Consortium (CSC).