''Ferroglobus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

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

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 Health (NIH). It is approved and funded by the government of the United States. The ...

br>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 Euryarchaeota (from Ancient Greek ''εὐρύς'' eurús, "broad, wide") is a phylum of archaea. Euryarchaeota are highly diverse and include methanogens, which produce methane and are often found in intestines, halobacteria, which survive extr ...

. It consists of one species, ''F. placidus'', isolated from hydrothermal vent sediment off the coast of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. ''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 An S-layer (surface layer) is a part of the cell envelope found in almost all archaea, as well as in many types of bacteria. The S-layers of both archaea and bacteria consists of a monomolecular layer composed of only one (or, in a few cases, two) ...

cell wall and archaella. 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 (Fe³⁺) to

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 ...

(Fe²⁺).

Hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic ...

gas (H₂) and sulfide (H₂S) can also be used as energy sources. Due to its anaerobic lifestyle, nitrate (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 (NO₂⁻).

Thiosulfate Thiosulfate ( IUPAC-recommended spelling; sometimes thiosulphate in British English) is an oxyanion of sulfur with the chemical formula . Thiosulfate also refers to the compounds containing this anion, which are the salts of thiosulfuric acid, ...

(S₂O₃²⁻) can also be used as a

. ''F. placidus'' was the first archaeon discovered that can anaerobically oxidize

iron Iron () is a chemical element with Symbol (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundanc ...

coupled to the reduction of nitrate. 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 formation Banded iron formations (also known as banded ironstone formations or BIFs) are distinctive units of sedimentary rock consisting of alternating layers of iron oxides and iron-poor chert. They can be up to several hundred meters in thickness ...

s often found in ancient rocks.

References

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See also

References

Further reading

Scientific journals

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