Archaea Genomes - METHANOCALDOCOCCUS JANNASCHII

The genome sequence of M. jannaschii was the the first complete genome sequence for a representative of the Archaea. It was named after Holger Jannasch of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts, the microbiologist who led the research expedition that identified the organism.

M. jannaschii is an extremophile and these are the rule breakers of biology. These organisms live in the harshest environments on earth, boiling water holes in Italy, the ice of Antarctic seas, and hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean. They not only survive but also thrive under conditions previously thought to prohibit all forms of life.

M. jannaschii, a single-celled microbe, was originally isolated from a sediment sample collected from the sea floor surface at the base of a 2600-m-deep "white smoker" chimney located on the East Pacific rise, where temperatures approach the boiling point of water and the pressure is sufficient to crush an ordinary submarine. There, M. jannaschii survives on carbon dioxide, hydrogen and a few mineral salts. It cannot tolerate oxygen and takes care of its energy needs by producing methane.

M. jannaschii grows at pressures of up to more than 200 atm and at an optimum temperature of 85 degrees C. It is a strict anaerobe and it produces methane. It is an autotroph which gets its energy from hydrogen and carbon dioxide producing methane and it is capable of nitrogen fixation.

Scientists have begun to mine the genomes of extremophiles for information that might lead to new technologies, such as heat-resistant molecules for commercial uses, and to breakthroughs in medicine and the environmental sciences.

References:

http://www.tigr.org/CMR2/BackGround/arg.html
http://www.genomenewsnetwork.org/articles/02_02/extremo1.shtml