''Aeropyrum pernix'' is a species of
extremophile
An extremophile (from Latin ' meaning "extreme" and Greek ' () meaning "love") is an organism that is able to live (or in some cases thrive) in extreme environments, i.e. environments that make survival challenging such as due to extreme temper ...
archaea in the archaeal phylum
Thermoproteota
The Thermoproteota (also known as crenarchaea) are archaea that have been classified as a phylum of the Archaea domain. Initially, the Thermoproteota were thought to be sulfur-dependent extremophiles but recent studies have identified characteris ...
. It is an
obligatorily thermophilic species. The first specimens were isolated from
sediment
Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sa ...
s in the sea off the coast of
Japan.
Discovery
''Aeropyrum pernix'' was the first strictly
aerobic
Aerobic means "requiring air," in which "air" usually means oxygen.
Aerobic may also refer to
* Aerobic exercise, prolonged exercise of moderate intensity
* Aerobics, a form of aerobic exercise
* Aerobic respiration, the aerobic process of cel ...
hyperthermophilic
Archaea to be discovered. It was originally isolated from heated marine sediments and venting water collected in 1996 from a
solfataric
A fumarole (or fumerole) is a vent in the surface of the Earth or other rocky planet from which hot volcanic gases and vapors are emitted, without any accompanying liquids or solids. Fumaroles are characteristic of the late stages of volcani ...
vent at Kodakara-jima Island in
Kyūshū,
Japan.
Genome structure
Its complete
genome
In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, a genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding g ...
was sequenced in 1999 and is 1,669 kilobases in size, with 2,694 possible
gene
In biology, the word gene (from , ; "... Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a b ...
s detected. All of the genes in the TCA cycle were found except for that of
α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase. In its place, the genes coding for the two subunits of 2-oxoacid:ferredoxin oxidoreductase were identified.
Properties
The cells of ''Aeropyrum pernix'' are spherical in shape and approximately 1
μm in diameter. The envelope surrounding the cells of ''Aeropyrum'' is about 25 nm wide. The organisms grows at temperature between 70 and 100 °C (optimum, 90 to 95 °C), at pH 5 to 9 (optimum, pH 7), and at a
salinity of 1.8 to 7% (optimum, 3.5% salinity). The growth of the organisms is not detected at 68 or 102 °C. Below 1.5% salinity, cells lyse by low osmotic shock. The cells of the organisms are sensitive to chloramphenicol and insensitive to ampicillin, vancomycin, and cycloserine. It grows well on
protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, res ...
aceous substances, with a
doubling time under these conditions of about 200 minutes.
[ This species lacks the genes for ]purine
Purine is a heterocyclic aromatic organic compound that consists of two rings ( pyrimidine and imidazole) fused together. It is water-soluble. Purine also gives its name to the wider class of molecules, purines, which include substituted purines ...
nucleotide
Nucleotides are organic molecules consisting of a nucleoside and a phosphate. They serve as monomeric units of the nucleic acid polymers – deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), both of which are essential biomolecule ...
biosynthesis and thus relies on environmental sources to meet its purine requirements.
References
Further reading
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External links
Type strain of ''Aeropyrum pernix'' at Bac''Dive'' - the Bacterial Diversity MetadatabaseKEGG Genome : ''Aeropyrum pernix''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4688419
Thermoproteota
Thermophiles
Archaea described in 1996