Dear WW: there is a whole new branch of biology, about
"extremophiles" e.g. bacteria living in water close to the
boiling point. Here's a URL giving idea of wide range of
research in progress. Not much fun to browse, but it will show you that bacteria metabolizing sulfur are just one of
a large group of surprising organisms.
http://sg.dir.yahoo.com/Science/Biology/Microbiology/Microorganisms/Extremophiles/