Archaea Genomes - PICROPHILUS TORRIDUS

Thermoacidophiles are adapted to two extremes, they generally grow at pH values below 3 and at temperatures above 50C.

Picrophilus torridus IS able to grow around pH 0 at up to 65 degrees C, it is therefore one the most thermoacidophilic organisms known. Several features that may contribute to the thermoacidophilic survival strategy of P. torridus were deduced from analysis of its 1.55-megabase genome. P. torridus has the smallest genome among nonparasitic aerobic microorganisms growing on organic substrates and simultaneously the highest coding density among thermoacidophiles. An exceptionally high ratio of secondary over ATP-consuming primary transport systems demonstrates that the high proton concentration in the surrounding medium is extensively used for transport processes. Certain genes that may be particularly supportive for the extreme lifestyle of P. torridus appear to have been internalised into the genome of the Picrophilus lineage by horizontal gene transfer from crenarchaea and bacteria. It is noteworthy that the thermoacidophiles from phylogenetically distant branches of the Archaea apparently share an unexpectedly large pool of genes.


Analysis of the Picrophilus torridus genome is expected to yield insights into the strategies of thermoacidophilic adaptation and into the evolution of thermoacidophiles, and will gain access to robust enzymes for use in biotechnological applications.

References:

http://www.g2l.bio.uni-goettingen.de/projects/c_proj_pt.html