Haladaptatus paucihalophilus | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Archaea |
Kingdom: | Methanobacteriati |
Phylum: | Halobacteriota |
Class: | Halobacteria |
Order: | Halobacteriales |
Family: | Halobacteriaceae |
Genus: | Haladaptatus |
Species: | H. paucihalophilus |
Binomial name | |
Haladaptatus paucihalophilus Savage et al 2007, emend. [1] | |
Haladaptatus paucihalophilus is a halophilic archaeal species, originally isolated from a spring in Oklahoma. [1] It uses a new pathway to synthesize glycine, and contains unique physiological features for osmoadaptation. [2]
H. paucihalophilus was originally found in 2004, but was not classified as a species at the time; only the Halobacteriales were studied. [3] H. paucihalophilus was isolated from the Zodletone Spring in Oklahoma. [1] It was originally considered to have two different strains: DX253 and GY252. [1] However, the two strains were later deemed a single species, since they have a 97.7% species similarity in 16S ribosomal RNA sequence analysis. [1] To isolate H. paucihalophilus specifically, soil samples from the spring were taken and later inoculated onto a halophile-selective medium and then analyzed further after colony growth. [1] Testing was done for Gram stain, carbon source, acid production, growth at minimal salt concentration, and antibiotic sensitivity. [1] Also, PCR was performed with the primers A1F and UA1406R. [1] H. paucihalophilus was named for its ability to grow in low-salt environments (Latin paucus meaning little, Greek hals meaning salt, Greek philos meaning loving). [1]
Most species within the Halobacteriaceae can be found in environments such as springs and marshes, that contain a high salt concentration. [1] However, many of these archaeal species that have a high tolerance to salt may also exist in low-salt environments. [1] H. paucihalophilus is capable of surviving and growing within a broad range of salt concentrations, so can also be found living in low-salt environments, much like Zodletone Spring. [1]
On the basis of 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing H. paucihalophilus is similar to the species Halalkalicoccus tibetensis by 89.5-90.8% with the differences concentrated at the base pairs of 1-200 and 400-800. [1] Differences with the phospholipid content in H. paucihalophilus when compared to other halophilic genera mainly constitutes the differentiation. [1]
H. paucihalophilus is a coccus-shaped chemoorganotroph, nonmotile, and pink-pigmented archaeal species. [1] H. paucihalophius cells are 1.2 μm in diameter with a doubling time of 12–13 hours, and are found growing as single cells or in pairs. [1] This species contains the phospholipids: phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol phosphate methyl ester, and phosphatidylglycerol sulfate. [1] It produces acid, grows at a pH range of 5.0-7.5, and is able to grow in salt concentrations from 0.8-5.1 M. [1]
The flow of carbon for H. paucihalophilus is done with the oxidative tricarboxylic acid cycle, but it does not use the reductive tricarboxylic acid cycle. [4] It uses glutamic acid, histidine, norleucine, phenylalanine, D-glucuronic acid, aesculin, trehalose, dextrin, salicin, sucrose, fructose, xylose, glucose, galactose, glycerol, citrate, pyruvate, acetate, starch, lactate, mannitol, fumarate, and malate as sources of carbon. [1] H. paucihalophilus is aerobic, so it uses oxygen as a terminal electron acceptor. [5] It is not capable using nitrate, sulfate, thiosulfate, elemental sulfur, dimethyl sulfoxide, or trimethylamine N-oxide as an electron acceptor for growth in anaerobic conditions. [1] In this species, lysine synthesis is done by the diaminopimelate pathway, the typical pathway for halophilic archaea. [4] H. paucihalophillus sets itself apart by its biosynthesis of glycine by using a mixture of three biosynthetic pathways, which are the serine hydroxymethyltransferase pathway, the threonine aldolase pathways, and the reverse of the glycine cleavage system. [4]
The size of the genome of H. paucihalophilus is 4,317,540 total bases. [5] It contains 4,489 genes, of which 4,429 are protein-coding genes. [5] The G-C content of H. paucihalophilus is 60.5 mol%. [1]
This particular halophile has an importance in the scientific field because not only can it survive high salt concentrations, but it can also tolerate low salt concentrations, making it a target species to study in the laboratory. [4] It is also the first microbe to be recognized that is able to synthesize glycine using different pathways besides the typical serine hydroxymethyltransferase pathway. [4] H. paucihalophilus is an organism to study due to its unique physiological features for osmoadaptation, which is its ability to adjust to differences in osmolarity by having salt within its cytoplasm. [2] [6]