''Ferroglobus'' is a genus of the

Archaeoglobaceae Archaeoglobaceae are a family of the Archaeoglobales. All known genera within the Archaeoglobaceae are hyperthermophilic and can be found near undersea hydrothermal vents. Archaeoglobaceae are the only family in the order ''Archaeoglobales'', w ...

.See the NCBIbr>webpage on Ferroglobus
Data extracted from the ''Ferroglobus'' is a

hyperthermophilic 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 doma ...

genus phylogenetically located within the Euryarchaeota. It consists of one species, ''F. placidus'', isolated from

hydrothermal vent A hydrothermal vent is a fissure on the seabed from which geothermally heated water discharges. They are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at mid-ocean ridges, ocean basins, and hotspot ...

sediment off the coast of Italy. ''F. placidus'' grows best at 85 °C and a neutral pH. It cannot grow at temperatures below 65 °C or above 95 °C. Cells possess an S-layer cell wall and

archaella The archaellum (; formerly archaeal flagellum) is a unique structure on the cell surface of many archaea, that allows for swimming motility. The archaellum consists of a rigid helical filament that is attached to the cell membrane by a molecular ...

. Metabolically, ''Ferroglobus'' is quite unique compared to its relative ''

Archaeoglobus ''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. Metabolism ''Archaeoglobus'' grow anaerobically at extremely high temperat ...

''. ''F. placidus'' was the first hyperthermophile discovered to grow anaerobically by oxidizing aromatic compounds such as benzoate coupled to the reduction of

ferric iron In chemistry, iron(III) refers to the element iron in its +3 oxidation state. In ionic compounds (salts), such an atom may occur as a separate cation (positive ion) denoted by Fe3+. The adjective ferric or the prefix ferri- is often used to s ...

(Fe³⁺) to ferrous iron (Fe²⁺). Hydrogen gas (H₂) and

sulfide Sulfide (British English also sulphide) is an inorganic anion of sulfur with the chemical formula S2− or a compound containing one or more S2− ions. Solutions of sulfide salts are corrosive. ''Sulfide'' also refers to chemical compounds lar ...

(H₂S) can also be used as energy sources. Due to its anaerobic lifestyle,

nitrate Nitrate is a polyatomic ion A polyatomic ion, also known as a molecular ion, is a covalent bonded set of two or more atoms, or of a metal complex, that can be considered to behave as a single unit and that has a net charge that is not zer ...

(NO₃⁻) is used as a

terminal electron acceptor An electron acceptor is a chemical entity that accepts electrons transferred to it from another compound. It is an oxidizing agent that, by virtue of its accepting electrons, is itself reduced in the process. Electron acceptors are sometimes mista ...

whereby it is converted to

nitrite The nitrite polyatomic ion, ion has the chemical formula . Nitrite (mostly sodium nitrite) is widely used throughout chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The nitrite anion is a pervasive intermediate in the nitrogen cycle in nature. The name ...

(NO₂⁻). Thiosulfate (S₂O₃²⁻) can also be used as a

. ''F. placidus'' was the first archaeon discovered that can anaerobically oxidize iron coupled to the reduction of

. It is thought that the presence of organisms similar to ''F. placidus'' in the ancient, anoxic Earth may have led to the formation of banded iron formations often found in ancient rocks.

References

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See also

References

Further reading

Scientific journals

Scientific books