In
taxonomy
Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification.
A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...
, the Methanopyrales are an
order
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
* Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...
of microbes within the class
methanopyri
In taxonomy, the Methanopyri are a class of the Euryarchaeota.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 of Healt ...
.
It contains only one family, Methanopyraceae, one genus, Methanopyrus, and one species, Methanopyrus kandleri. This species is
chemolithoautotrophic A lithoautotroph is an organism which derives energy from reactions of reduced compounds of mineral (inorganic) origin. Two types of lithoautotrophs are distinguished by their energy source; photolithoautotrophs derive their energy from light while ...
and its cells are
bacillus
''Bacillus'' (Latin "stick") is a genus of Gram-positive, rod-shaped bacteria, a member of the phylum ''Bacillota'', with 266 named species. The term is also used to describe the shape (rod) of other so-shaped bacteria; and the plural ''Bacilli ...
in form. It grows comfortably at temperatures of 98 °C and can survive at temperatures as high as 110 °C, making it the most
thermophilic
A thermophile is an organism—a type of extremophile—that thrives at relatively high temperatures, between . Many thermophiles are archaea, though they can be bacteria or fungi. Thermophilic eubacteria are suggested to have been among the earl ...
known
methanogen
Methanogens are microorganisms that produce methane as a metabolic byproduct in hypoxic conditions. They are prokaryotic and belong to the domain Archaea. All known methanogens are members of the archaeal phylum Euryarchaeota. Methanogens are com ...
. Strain 116 can survive at up to 122 °C. They live in
hydrothermal vents
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 ...
and were first discovered on the walls of a
black smoker
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 ...
in the
Gulf of California
The Gulf of California ( es, Golfo de California), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Bermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja Ca ...
, at the depth of 2000 metres. They are similar to
Methanobacteriales
In alpha taxonomy, taxonomy, the Methanobacteriales are an order (biology), order of the Methanobacteria. Species within this order differ from other methanogens in that they can use fewer catabolic substrates and have distinct morphological cha ...
, but unlike other methanogenic archaea, their
cell walls
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 ...
contain
pseudomurein
Pseudopeptidoglycan (also known as pseudomurein;White, David. (1995) ''The Physiology and Biochemistry of Prokaryotes'', pages 6, 12-21. (Oxford: Oxford University Press). . PPG hereafter) is a major cell wall component of some Archaea that differs ...
.
References
Further reading
Scientific articles
*
*
Scientific databases
External links
Archaea taxonomic orders
Euryarchaeota
{{Euryarchaeota-stub