Thermococci

Thermococci
Thermococcus gammatolerans
Scientific classification
Domain:
Archaea
Kingdom:
Euryarchaeota
Phylum:
Euryarchaeota
Class:
Thermococci

Zillig and Reysenbach 2002
Order
Synonyms
  • "Methanofastidiosia" corrig. Nobu et al. 2016
  • Protoarchaea Cavalier-Smith 2002
Schematic diagram of the Thermococcus gammatolerans cell pictured above.
Pyrococcus furiosus

In taxonomy, the Thermococci are a class of microbes within the Euryarchaeota.[1]

They live in extremely hot environments, such as hydrothermal vents, and they have optimal growth temperatures above 80 °C. Thermococcus and Pyrococcus (literally "balls of fire") are both obligately anaerobic chemoorganotrophs. Thermococcus prefers 70-95 °C and Pyrococcus 70-100 °C. Palaeococcus helgesonii, recently discovered in the Tyrrhenian Sea, is an aerobic chemoheterotrophic that grows at temperatures of 45-85 °C with an optimal temperature of 80 °C. Thermococcus gammatolerans sp. nov. was recently discovered in the Guaymas Basin, and it grows at temperatures from 55-95 °C with an optimal temperaturearound 88 °C with an optimal pH of 6. It has pronounced radioresistance and can survive gamma radiation at 30 kGy.

References

  1. ↑ See the NCBI webpage on Thermococci. Data extracted from the "NCBI taxonomy resources". National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved 2007-03-19.

Further reading


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