''Ferroplasma acidiphilum'' is an
acidophilic,
autotrophic
An autotroph or primary producer is an organism that produces complex organic compounds (such as carbohydrates, fats, and proteins) using carbon from simple substances such as carbon dioxide,Morris, J. et al. (2019). "Biology: How Life Works", ...
,
ferrous iron
In chemistry, iron(II) refers to the element iron in its +2 oxidation state. In ionic compounds (salts), such an atom may occur as a separate cation (positive ion) denoted by Fe2+.
The adjective ferrous or the prefix ferro- is often used to ...
-oxidizing,
cell wall
A cell wall is a structural layer surrounding some types of cells, just outside the cell membrane. It can be tough, flexible, and sometimes rigid. It provides the cell with both structural support and protection, and also acts as a filtering mech ...
-lacking,
mesophilic
A mesophile is an organism that grows best in moderate temperature, neither too hot nor too cold, with an optimum growth range from . The optimum growth temperature for these organisms is 37°C. The term is mainly applied to microorganisms. Organi ...
member of the
Ferroplasmaceae
In taxonomy, the Ferroplasmaceae are a family of the Thermoplasmatales.See the NCBI
The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) is part of the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), a branch of the National Institutes ...
.
''F. acidophilum'' is a mesophile with a temperature optimum of approximately 35 °C, growing optimally at a
pH of 1.7. ''F. acidophilum'' is generally found in acidic mine
tailings
In mining, tailings are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are different to overburden, which is the waste rock or other material that overlie ...
, primarily those containing
pyrite
The mineral pyrite (), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Iron, FeSulfur, S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral.
Pyrite's metallic Luster (mineralogy), lust ...
(FeS
2). It is especially abundant in cases of severe
acid mine drainage
Acid mine drainage, acid and metalliferous drainage (AMD), or acid rock drainage (ARD) is the outflow of acidic water from metal mines or coal mines.
Acid rock drainage occurs naturally within some environments as part of the rock weathering ...
, where other organisms such as ''
Acidithiobacillus
''Acidithiobacillus'' is a genus of the ''Acidithiobacillia'' in the " Pseudomonadota". The genus includes acidophilic organisms capable of iron and/or sulfur oxidation. Like all ''"Pseudomonadota"'', ''Acidithiobacillus'' spp. are Gram-negative ...
'' and ''
Leptospirillum'' lower the pH of the environment to the extent that ''F. acidophilum'' is allowed to flourish.
''F. acidophilum'' obtains energy by oxidation of the ferrous iron in pyrite using
oxygen
Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...
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 ...
. This process produces
sulfuric acid
Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid ( Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen and hydrogen, with the molecular formu ...
as a by-product, leading to further acidification of its environment. Its type strain is YT.
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
LPSNType strain of ''Ferroplasma acidiphilum'' at Bac''Dive'' - the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferroplasma acidiphilum
Euryarchaeota
Archaea described in 2000