The carbon source has not been determined for this species but other organisms within Chloroflexi use CO2 as a carbon source. Although two strains of "D". "lykanthroporepellens" have been isolated and characterized, only the type strain BL-DC-9T has had the genome sequenced. Therefore, when referring to "D". "lykanthroporepellens" in this section, all information is only verified for BL-DC-9T. "D". "lykanthroporepellens" has a circular chromosome consisting of 1,686,510 bp and a G-C content, based on genomic analysis, of 55.04%. The genome was sequenced using both Illumina and 454 sequencing platforms, more specifically an Illumina shotgun library, a 454 draft library, and a paired end 454 library. Illumina sequence data was assembled and combined with assembled 454 data. Initial assembly contained 64 contigs (a set of overlapping DNA) in 1 scaffold (a set of overlapping contigs with known gap lengths). Genes were annotated using a combination of automated and manual curation. 1,771 genes were predicted, in which 1,720 were protein-coding genes and 51 were RNAs. Putative function was designated to nearly 70% of the protein-coding genes. Interest in "D". "lykanthroporepellens" stems from its ability to degrade polychlorinated aliphatic alkanes into nonhazardous products. The catalysis of reductive dehalogenation of chlorinated compounds is dependent on the presence and expression of genes coding for reductive dehalogenase enzymes. These genes are organized in "rdhAB" operons, which encode the RdhA protein (reductive dehalogenase) and the RdhB protein (membrane anchor). "D". "lykanthroporepellens" was shown to have several "rdhA" and "rdhB" genes in the chromosome. Furthermore, "D". "lykanthroporepellens" has a prophage region containing 45 hypothetic proteins, which accounts for roughly 4% of the chromosome. An additional ~4.3% of the genome of "D". "lykanthroporepellens" is made up of insertion sequence elements, which encode for 74 full or truncated transposases. Thus, horizontal gene transfer appears to be a potential mechanism for the adaptation of "D". "lykanthroporepellens" to its ecological niche.