Staphylothermus

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Staphylothermus
Scientific classification
Domain:
Archaea
Phylum:
Thermoproteota
Class:
Thermoprotei
Order:
Desulfurococcales
Family:
Desulfurococcaceae
Genus:
Staphylothermus

Stetter & Fiala 1986
Type species
Staphylothermus marinus
Stetter & Fiala 1986
Species
  • S. hellenicus
  • S. marinus

In taxonomy, Staphylothermus is a genus of the Desulfurococcaceae. [1]

Contents

Taxonomy

Desulfurococcaceae are anaerobic, sulfur respiring, extreme thermophiles. Desulfurococcaceae share the same family as Desulfurococcus. Two species of Staphylothermus have been identified: S. marinus and S. hellenicus. They are both heterotrophic, anaerobic members of the domain Archea.

Cell structure

Staphylothermus marinus has a unique morphology. When nutrient levels are low, it forms grape-like clusters that range in diameter from 0.5–1.0 mm up to 100 clusters large. At high nutrient levels, large clustered cells up to 15 μm in diameter are found. The S-layer is made of a glycoprotein called tetrabrachion. Tetrabrachion is stable at high temperatures and resistant to chemicals that typically denature proteins. Tetrabrachion is built from 92,000 kDa polypeptides forming projections that react with other tetrabrachion sub units making a lattice framework that covers the cell. [2] Tetrabrachion is resistant to heat and chemical denaturation. [3] S. marinus has a circular chromosome with 1,610 protein-coding genes and 49 RNA genes. Staphylothermus hellenicus does not have tetrabrachion in the cell wall. It is an aggregated coccus, obligate anaerobe, heterotrophic, archeon that grows 0.8–1.3 μm in diameter. It forms large aggregates with up to 50 cells and has a circular chromosome that contains 158,0347 nucleotides, 1,599 protein-coding genes and 50 RNA genes.

Metabolism

Staphylothermus marinus and Staphylothermus hellenicus have special enzymes called extremozymes known to work well in extremely hot or cold environments where most enzymatic reactions could not occur. [4] Staphylothermus marinus and Staphylothermus hellenecus are thermophiles that have heat stable extremozymes that work at particularly high temperatures. Both organisms are sulfur dependent, extreme marine thermophiles. These archeons require sulfur for growth but can produce hydrogen if sulfur becomes limited. Staphylothermus marinus converts sulfur to hydrogen sulfide using these extremozymes. Hydrogen sulfide is then released as a waste product. Staphylothermus marinus contains large protein complexes that are involved in sulfur reduction. Staphylothermus marinus and Staphylothermus hellenicus use sulfur as the final electron acceptor but may use different membrane complexes in sulfur reduction. S. marinus lacks the genes for purine nucleotide biosynthesis and thus relies on environmental sources to meet its purine requirements. [5]

Ecology

Staphylothermus marinus and Staphylothermus hellenicus are classified as hyperthermophiles preferring temperatures between 65 and 85 °C. Thermophiles live in hot water environments such as hyperthermal vents. Staphylothermus marinus has been found in the heated geothermal sediments of “black smokers” on the ocean floor. [2] The optimal growth temperature is 85–92 °C. Maximum growth temperature is 98 °C. It prefers a pH of 6.5, can grow in a pH of 4.5 to 8.5, and favors 1–3.5% NaCl concentrations. Staphylothermus hellenicus was isolated in shallow, hypothermal vents off the coast of Greece in 1996. [6] It grows at an optimum temperature of 85 °C, pH 6 and 3–4% NaCl concentrations.

Significance

Staphylothermus marinus and Staphylothermus hellenicus are very closely related and both could be used in biotechnology as heat-stable enzyme sources. The enzymes they contain are of the most stable known and most resistant to denaturing agents. Thermophile enzymes have been used in biotechnology to perform important procedures such as DNA polymerase chain reactions. These heat stable enzymes are also used in industrial products and processes such as biofuels and biodegradation. Biorefineries specifically use thermophiles and their enzymes to convert biomass into useful products. [7] Thermophiles like Staphylothermus marinus and Staphylothermus hellenicus provide enzymes that are operable at high temperatures providing better mixing, less contamination, and better solubility. Many scientists believe that thermophiles are the oldest organisms on earth and may give scientists answers to the origin of life or whether life exists in other universes. [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thermophile</span> Organism that thrives at relatively high temperatures

A thermophile is an organism—a type of extremophile—that thrives at relatively high temperatures, between 41 and 122 °C. Many thermophiles are archaea, though some of them are bacteria and fungi. Thermophilic eubacteria are suggested to have been among the earliest bacteria.

<i>Nanoarchaeum equitans</i> Species of archaeon

Nanoarchaeum equitans is a species of marine archaea that was discovered in 2002 in a hydrothermal vent off the coast of Iceland on the Kolbeinsey Ridge by Karl Stetter. It has been proposed as the first species in a new phylum, and is the only species within the genus Nanoarchaeum. Strains of this microbe were also found on the Sub-polar Mid Oceanic Ridge, and in the Obsidian Pool in Yellowstone National Park. Since it grows in temperatures approaching boiling, at about 80 °C (176 °F), it is considered to be a thermophile. It grows best in environments with a pH of 6, and a salinity concentration of 2%. Nanoarchaeum appears to be an obligate symbiont on the archaeon Ignicoccus; it must be in contact with the host organism to survive. Nanoarchaeum equitans cannot synthesize lipids but obtains them from its host. Its cells are only 400 nm in diameter, making it the smallest known living organism, and the smallest known archaeon.

A hyperthermophile is an organism that thrives in extremely hot environments—from 60 °C (140 °F) upwards. An optimal temperature for the existence of hyperthermophiles is often above 80 °C (176 °F). Hyperthermophiles are often within the domain Archaea, although some bacteria are also able to tolerate extreme temperatures. Some of these bacteria are able to live at temperatures greater than 100 °C, deep in the ocean where high pressures increase the boiling point of water. Many hyperthermophiles are also able to withstand other environmental extremes, such as high acidity or high radiation levels. Hyperthermophiles are a subset of extremophiles. Their existence may support the possibility of extraterrestrial life, showing that life can thrive in environmental extremes.

Archaeoglobus is a genus of the phylum Euryarchaeota. Archaeoglobus can be found in high-temperature oil fields where they may contribute to oil field souring.

<i>Sulfolobus</i> Genus of archaea

Sulfolobus is a genus of microorganism in the family Sulfolobaceae. It belongs to the archaea domain.

<i>Pyrococcus furiosus</i> Species of archaeon

Pyrococcus furiosus is a heterotrophic, strictly anaerobic, extremophilic, model species of archaea. It is classified as a hyperthermophile because it thrives best under extremely high temperatures, and is notable for having an optimum growth temperature of 100 °C. P. furiosus belongs to the Pyrococcus genus, most commonly found in extreme environmental conditions of hydrothermal vents. It is one of the few prokaryotic organisms that has enzymes containing tungsten, an element rarely found in biological molecules.

Pyrobaculum is a genus of the Thermoproteaceae.

In taxonomy, Vulcanisaeta is a genus of the Thermoproteaceae.

<i>Pyrococcus</i> Genus of archaea

Pyrococcus is a genus of Thermococcaceaen archaean.

Aeropyrum is a genus of archaea in the family Desulfurococcaceae.

In taxonomy, Desulfurococcus is a genus of the Desulfurococcaceae.

Thermodiscus is a genus of archaea in the family Desulfurococcaceae. The only species is Thermodiscus maritimus.

Thermosphaera is a genus of the Desulfurococcaceae. They are a group of prokaryotic organisms which have been discovered in extremely hot environments such as sulfur springs, volcanoes, and magma pools. Isolates of Thermosphaera were first identified in 1998 from the Obsidian Pool in Yellowstone National Park.

Caldococcus is a genus of Archaea in the order Desulfurococcales.

Thermococcus celer is a Gram-negative, spherical-shaped archaeon of the genus Thermococcus. The discovery of T. celer played an important role in rerooting the tree of life when T. celer was found to be more closely related to methanogenic Archaea than to other phenotypically similar thermophilic species. T. celer was the first archaeon discovered to house a circularized genome. Several type strains of T. celer have been identified: Vu13, ATCC 35543, and DSM 2476.

Methanococcoides burtonii is a methylotrophic methanogenic archaeon first isolated from Ace Lake, Antarctica. Its type strain is DSM 6242.

Thermoplasma volcanium is a moderate thermoacidophilic archaea isolated from acidic hydrothermal vents and solfatara fields. It contains no cell wall and is motile. It is a facultative anaerobic chemoorganoheterotroph. No previous phylogenetic classifications have been made for this organism. Thermoplasma volcanium reproduces asexually via binary fission and is nonpathogenic.

Sulfolobus metallicus is a coccoid shaped thermophilic archaeon. It is a strict chemolithoautotroph gaining energy by oxidation of sulphur and sulphidic ores into sulfuric acid. Its type strain is Kra 23. It has many uses that take advantage of its ability to grow on metal media under acidic and hot environments.

Saccharolobus solfataricus is a species of thermophilic archaeon. It was transferred from the genus Sulfolobus to the new genus Saccharolobus with the description of Saccharolobus caldissimus in 2018.

References

  1. ↑ See the NCBI webpage on Staphylothermus. Data extracted from the "NCBI taxonomy resources". National Center for Biotechnology Information. ftp://ftp.ncbi.nih.gov/pub/taxonomy/. Retrieved 2007-03-19.
  2. 1 2 Joint Genome Institute. http://Staphylothermus%5B%5D marinus F1, DSM 3639 - Home.mht. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
  3. ↑ Peters, J., Nitsch, M., Kuhlmorgen, B., Golbik, R., Lupus, A., Kellermann, J., et al. (1995). Tetrabrachion: a filamentous archaebacterial surface protein assembly of unusual structure and extreme stability. {Electronic version}. Journal of Molecular Biology, 245 (4), 385–401.
  4. ↑ Microbial Life Educational Resources. http://Microbial%5B%5D Life in Extremely Hot Environments.mht. Retrieved March 30, 2012.
  5. ↑ Brown AM, Hoopes SL, White RH, Sarisky CA. Purine biosynthesis in archaea: variations on a theme. Biol Direct. 2011 Dec 14;6:63. doi: 10.1186/1745-6150-6-63. PMID 22168471; PMCID: PMC3261824
  6. ↑ GOLD Genomes Online Database. http://Staphylothermus%5B%5D hellenicus P8, DSM 12710 GOLD CARD.mht. Retrieved March 30, 2012.
  7. ↑ Pernilla, T., Mamo, G., and Karlsson, E., (2007). Potential and utilization of thermophiles and thermostable enzymes in biorefining. {Electronic version}. Microb Cell Fact, 6, 9.
  8. ↑ Mayr, J., Lupas, A., Kellerman, J., Eckerscorn, C., Baumeister, W., & Peters, J. (1996). A hyperthermostable protease of the subtilisin family bound to the surface layer of the Archaeon Staphylothermus marinus. {Electronic version}. Current Biology, 6, 739–749.

Sources

Further reading

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