''Thermoplasma acidophilum'' is an
archaeon
Archaea ( ; singular archaeon ) is a domain of single-celled organisms. These microorganisms lack cell nuclei and are therefore prokaryotes. Archaea were initially classified as bacteria, receiving the name archaebacteria (in the Archaebact ...
, the type species of its genus. ''T. acidophilum'' was originally isolated from a self-heating
coal refuse
Coal refuse (also described as coal waste, rock, slag, coal tailings, waste material, rock bank, culm, boney, or gob) is the material left over from coal mining, usually as tailings piles or spoil tips. For every tonne of hard coal generated by m ...
pile, at pH 2 and 59 °C. Its genome has been sequenced.
It is highly
flagellated
A flagellum (; ) is a hairlike appendage that protrudes from certain plant and animal sperm cells, and from a wide range of microorganisms to provide motility. Many protists with flagella are termed as flagellates.
A microorganism may have fro ...
and grows optimally at and pH 1.8. The size of a cell is about 1
μm. ''T. acidophilum'' lacks a
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 ...
and the cell membrane is exposed directly outside. ''T. acidophilum'' shows various cell shapes depending upon growth conditions and stages.
The full genome of ''Thermoplasma acidophilum'' has been sequenced. It is only 1565
kb in size.
See also
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Thermoplasma volcanium
''Thermoplasma volcanium'' is a moderate thermoacidophilic archaea isolated from acidic hydrothermal vents and solfatara fields. It contains no cell wall and is motile. It is a facultative anaerobic chemoorganoheterotroph. No previous phy ...
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References
Further reading
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External links
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LPSNType strain of ''Thermoplasma acidophilum'' at Bac''Dive'' - the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase
Archaea described in 1970
Euryarchaeota
{{Euryarchaeota-stub