Thermotoga elfii

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Thermotoga elfii
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Domain: Bacteria
Phylum: Thermotogota
Class: Thermotogae
Order: Thermotogales
Family: Thermotogaceae
Genus: Thermotoga
Species:
T. elfii
Binomial name
Thermotoga elfii
Ravot et al. 1995

Thermotoga elfii is a rod-shaped, glucose-fermenting bacterium. The type strain of T. elfii is SEBR 6459T. [1] The genus Thermotoga was originally thought to be strictly found surrounding submarine hydrothermal vents, but this organism was subsequently isolated in African oil wells in 1995. [1] A protective outer sheath allows this microbe to be thermophilic. [1] This organism cannot function in the presence of oxygen making it strictly anaerobic. [1] Some research proposes that the thiosulfate-reducing qualities in this organism could lead to decreased bio-corrosion in oil equipment in industrial settings. [2]

Contents

History

Discovery

The genus Thermotoga, previously thought only to be found around submarine hydrothermal vents, was discovered in North Sea oil wells. [1] Due to this discovery, other wells in the area began being investigated, leading to the discovery of Thermotoga elfii in African oil wells in April 1995. [1] T. elfii was gathered in a one-liter sample at the head of a well at 68 °C. [1] Ravot et al. isolated this species by cultivation on a basal medium containing numerous different nutrients and resources (water, salt, glucose, sodium acetate, etc.) in the lab and then by using repeated trials of the agar shake dilution technique. [1] These scientists concluded by determining the samples' purity through microscopy. [1]

Taxonomy

The first name of Thermotoga elfii is derived from the Greek root "therm," which means heat. [3] "Toga," which is a Roman term for an outer garment, is where the second part of the genus name originated. [3] This is due to the outer sheath that wraps around the bacteria to protect it from the extreme temperature often associated with this thermophile. [1] The latter name is derived from Elf-Aquitaine, the French oil company that owned the oil wells where T. elfii was first discovered. [1]

Physiology and metabolism

Therotoga elfii colonies of 1 millimeter have been observed in a laboratory setting, but the actual structure of the rod-shaped T. elfii is between 0.5-3 micrometers long. [1] Its protective outer sheath is the defining characteristic, which aided in providing T. elfii its name. [1] This structure balloons over each side of the organism and protects it from extreme heat. [1] When a Gram stain is performed on this organism, a gram-negative result is expected. [1] T. elfii has flagella uniformly distributed around its body, making it a peritrichous bacteria. [1] It is also an obligate anaerobe, meaning it cannot tolerate oxygen. [1] Electron acceptors include thiosulfate, arabinose, bio-trypticase, fructose, glucose, lactose, maltose, ribose, sucrose, and xylose. [1] Electron donors include acetate, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen. [1]

Genome and phylogeny

The 16s RNA gene is 1,519 bases long with a GC content of 39.6 mol%. [1] Due to T. elfii’s relatively new status, much information about the number of genes is still unknown. [1] However, a 91.9% relative of this species, Thermotoga maritima, has been documented as having 1.86 million base pairs with 1,877 predicted coding regions. [4] The phylogenic family for Thermotoga elfii contains organisms such as Thermotoga thermarum, Thermotoga maritima, and Thermosipho africanus, which have a roughly 90% relation to this organism. [1]

Ecology

The genus Thermotoga contains some of the most thermophilic microorganisms known. [5] It is composed of species that are thermophilic and hyperthermophilic which can thrive in temperatures as high as 80 °C. [5] The optimum growth temperature for Thermotoga elfii, however, is 66 °C. [1] The optimum pH is 7.5 and the optimum salinity is 1.2%. [1]

Applications

Industrial applications

The discovery of T. elfii has been deemed significant as it has led to other discoveries of methanogens, thermophiles, and sulfate-reducing bacteria. [1] This organism and the others discovered in this unique environment can help make progress in microbe-assisted oil recovery processes. [6] Thiosulfate, often implicated in the corrosion of metals used in oil pipelines, is reduced to sulfide by Thermotoga elfii, which leads many scientists to believe it has a major role in preserving oil extraction equipment. [1] [6] [2]

Environmental applications

In many anoxic thermal marine hot springs, thiosulfate oxidation often does not occur or occurs at an extremely slow rate. [2] These thermophilic thiosulfate-reducers can play a key role in the mineralization of organic compounds to simpler, plant-accessible forms. [2]

Related Research Articles

Thermophile 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 they can be bacteria. Thermophilic eubacteria are suggested to have been among the earliest bacteria.

A mesophile is an organism that grows best in moderate temperature, neither too hot nor too cold, with an optimum growth range from 20 to 45 °C. The term is mainly applied to microorganisms. Organisms that prefer extreme environments are known as extremophiles. Mesophiles have diverse classifications, belonging to two domains: Bacteria, Archaea, and to kingdom Fungi of domain Eucarya. Mesophiles belonging to the domain Bacteria can either be gram-positive or gram-negative. Oxygen requirements for mesophiles can be aerobic or anaerobic. There are three basic shapes of mesophiles: coccus, bacillus, and spiral.

<i>Thermus aquaticus</i> Species of bacterium

Thermus aquaticus is a species of bacterium that can tolerate high temperatures, one of several thermophilic bacteria that belong to the Deinococcota phylum. It is the source of the heat-resistant enzyme Taq DNA polymerase, one of the most important enzymes in molecular biology because of its use in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) DNA amplification technique.

A hyperthermophile is an organism that thrives in extremely hot environments—from 60 °C upwards. An optimal temperature for the existence of hyperthermophiles is often above 80 °C. 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.

The Thermotogota are a phylum of the domain Bacteria. The phylum Thermotogota is composed of Gram-negative staining, anaerobic, and mostly thermophilic and hyperthermophilic bacteria.

Aquifex is a bacterial genus, belonging to phylum Aquificota. There is one species of Aquifex with a validly published name – A. pyrophilus – but "A. aeolicus" is sometimes considered as species though it has no standing as a name given it has not been validly or effectively published. Aquifex spp. are extreme thermophiles, growing best at temperature of 85 °C to 95 °C. They are members of the Bacteria as opposed to the other inhabitants of extreme environments, the Archaea.

Sulfur-reducing bacteria are microorganisms able to reduce elemental sulfur (S0) to hydrogen sulfide (H2S). These microbes use inorganic sulfur compounds as electron acceptors to sustain several activities such as respiration, conserving energy and growth, in absence of oxygen. The final product or these processes, sulfide, has a considerable influence on the chemistry of the environment and, in addition, is used as electron donor for a large variety of microbial metabolisms. Several types of bacteria and many non-methanogenic archaea can reduce sulfur. Microbial sulfur reduction was already shown in early studies, which highlighted the first proof of S0 reduction in a vibrioid bacterium from mud, with sulfur as electron acceptor and H2 as electron donor. The first pure cultured species of sulfur-reducing bacteria, Desulfuromonas acetoxidans, was discovered in 1976 and described by Pfennig Norbert and Biebel Hanno as an anaerobic sulfur-reducing and acetate-oxidizing bacterium, not able to reduce sulfate. Only few taxa are true sulfur-reducing bacteria, using sulfur reduction as the only or main catabolic reaction. Normally, they couple this reaction with the oxidation of acetate, succinate or other organic compounds. In general, sulfate-reducing bacteria are able to use both sulfate and elemental sulfur as electron acceptors. Thanks to its abundancy and thermodynamic stability, sulfate is the most studied electron acceptor for anaerobic respiration that involves sulfur compounds. Elemental sulfur, however, is very abundant and important, especially in deep-sea hydrothermal vents, hot springs and other extreme environments, making its isolation more difficult. Some bacteria – such as Proteus, Campylobacter, Pseudomonas and Salmonella – have the ability to reduce sulfur, but can also use oxygen and other terminal electron acceptors.

<i>Thermotoga</i> Genus of bacteria

Thermotoga is a genus of the phylum Thermotogota. Members of Thermotoga are hyperthermophilic bacteria whose cell is wrapped in a unique sheath-like outer membrane, called a "toga".

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.

Thermoanaerobacter is a genus in the phylum Bacillota (Bacteria). Members of this genus are thermophilic and anaerobic, several of them were previously described as Clostridium species and members of the now obsolete genera Acetogenium and Thermobacteroides

<i>Thermotoga maritima</i>

Thermotoga maritima is a hyperthermophilic, anaerobic organism that is a member of the order Thermotogales. It employs [FeFe]-hydrogenases to produce hydrogen gas (H2) by fermenting many different types of carbohydrates.

Thermotoga neapolitana is a hyperthermophilic organism that is a member of the order Thermotogales.

Thermotoga hypogea is a hyperthermophilic organism that is a member of the order Thermotogales. It is thermophilic, xylanolytic, glucose-fermenting, strictly anaerobic and rod-shaped. The type strain of T. hypogea is SEBR 7054.

Thermotoga naphthophila is a hyperthermophilic, anaerobic, non-spore-forming, rod-shaped fermentative heterotroph, with type strain RKU-10T.

Dethiosulfovibrio peptidovorans is an anaerobic, slightly halophilic, thiosulfate-reducing bacterium. Its genome has been sequenced. It is vibrio-shaped, gram-negative and possesses lateral flagella. It is non-spore-forming. Its type strain is SEBR 4207T.

Persephonella marina is a Gram-negative, rod shaped bacteria that is a member of the Aquificota phylum. Stemming from Greek, the name Persephonella is based upon the mythological goddess Persephone. Marina stems from a Latin origin, meaning "belonging to the sea". It is a thermophile with an obligate chemolithoautotrophic metabolism. Growth of P. marina can occur in pairs or individually, but is rarely seen aggregating in large groups. The organism resides on sulfidic chimneys in the deep ocean and has never been documented as a pathogen.

Caldanaerobacter is a Gram-positive or negative and strictly anaerobic genus of bacteria from the family of Thermoanaerobacteraceae.

Garciella is a Gram-positive, halotolerant, obligately anaerobic and moderately thermophilic bacterial genus from the family of Eubacteriaceae with one known species.

Caldilinea is a genus of bacteria from the family of Caldilineaceae.

Paramaledivibacter is a strictly anaerobic, slightly halophilic, non-spore-forming and moderately thermophilic genus of bacteria from the family of Clostridiaceae with one known species. Clostridium caminithermale has been reclassified to Paramaledivibacter caminithermalis. Paramaledivibacter caminithermalis has been isolated from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent from the Atlantic Ocean Ridge.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 RAVOT, G.; MAGOT, M.; FARDEAU, M.-L.; PATEL, B. K. C.; PRENSIER, G.; EGAN, A.; GARCIA, J.-L.; OLLIVIER, B. (1995-04-01). "Thermotoga elfii sp. nov., a Novel Thermophilic Bacterium from an African Oil-Producing Well". International Journal of Systematic Bacteriology. 45 (2): 308–314. doi: 10.1099/00207713-45-2-308 . PMID   7537064.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Ravot, G.; Ollivier, B.; Magot, M.; Patel, B.; Crolet, J.; Fardeau, M.; Garcia, J. (1995-05-01). "Thiosulfate reduction, an important physiological feature shared by members of the order thermotogales". Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 61 (5): 2053–2055. doi:10.1128/AEM.61.5.2053-2055.1995. ISSN   0099-2240. PMC   1388453 . PMID   16535035.
  3. 1 2 "Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, ἀάατος". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  4. ↑ Nelson, Karen E.; Clayton, Rebecca A.; Gill, Steven R.; Gwinn, Michelle L.; Dodson, Robert J.; Haft, Daniel H.; Hickey, Erin K.; Peterson, Jeremy D.; Nelson, William C. (1999-05-27). "Evidence for lateral gene transfer between Archaea and Bacteria from genome sequence of Thermotoga maritima". Nature. 399 (6734): 323–329. Bibcode:1999Natur.399..323N. doi:10.1038/20601. ISSN   0028-0836. PMID   10360571. S2CID   4420157.
  5. 1 2 Frock, Andrew D.; Notey, Jaspreet S.; Kelly, Robert M. (2010-09-01). "The genus Thermotoga: recent developments". Environmental Technology. 31 (10): 1169–1181. doi:10.1080/09593330.2010.484076. ISSN   0959-3330. PMC   3752655 . PMID   20718299.
  6. 1 2 Bernard, F.P.; Connan, Jacques; Magot, Michel (1992). "Indigenous Microorganisms in Connate Water of Many Oil Fields: A New Tool in Exploration and Production Techniques". SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition. doi:10.2118/24811-ms.

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