Transfer of the Type Species of the Genus Thermobacteroides to the Genus Thermoanaerobacter as Thermoanaerobacter acetoethylicus(Ben-Bassat and Zeikus 1981) comb. nov., Description of Coprothermobacter gen. nov., and Reclassification of Thermobacteroides proteolyticus as Coprothermobacter proteolyticus(Ollivier et al. 1985) comb. nov.

Phylogenetic and phenotypic evidence demonstrates the taxonomic heterogeneity of the genus Thermobacteroides and indicates a close relationship between Thermobacteroides acetoethylicus and members of the genus Thermoanaerobacter. Since T. acetoethylicus is the type species of Thermobacteroides, its removal invalidates the genus. As a consequence, the remaining species Thermobacteroides proteolyticus is proposed as the type species of the new genus Coprothermobacter gen. nov., as Coprothermobacter proteolyticus comb. nov.