Background: Sulphur-oxidizing microorganisms are widely used in the biofiltration of total reduced sulphur compounds (odorous and neurotoxic) produced by industries which include high temperature process steps, such as the cellulose and petrochemical industries. Some hyperthermophilic microorganisms have the capability to oxidize these compounds at high temperatures (>60ºC), and archaea of this group, e.g. Sulfolobus metallicus, are commonly used in biofiltration technology.

Results: In this study, a hyperthermophilic sulphur-oxidizing strain of archaea was isolated from a hot spring (Chillán, Chile) and it was called M1. It was identified archaea of the genus Sulfolobus (99% homology with Sulfolobus solfataricus 16S rDNA). Biofilms of this culture grown on polyethylene rings showed an elemental sulphur oxidation rate of 95.15 ± 15.39 mg S l^-1 d^-1, higher than the rate exhibited by the biofilm of the sulphur-oxidizing archaea Sulfolobus metallicus (56.8 ± 10.91 mg l^-1 d^-1)