Thermococcus litoralis

Thermococcus litoralis
Scientific classification
Domain:
Archaea
Phylum:
Euryarchaeota
Class:
Thermococci
Order:
Thermococcales
Family:
Thermococcaceae
Genus:
Thermococcus
Species:
T. litoralis
Binomial name
Thermococcus litoralis[1]
Neuner et al. 2001

Thermococcus litoralis (T. litoralis) is a species of Archaea that is found around deep-sea hydrothermal vents as well as shallow submarine thermal springs and oil wells.[2][3][4] It is an anaerobic organotroph hyperthermophile that is between 0.5–3.0 μm (20–118 μin) in diameter.[2] Like the other species in the order thermococcales, T. litoralis is an irregular hyperthermophile coccus that grows between 55–100 °C (131–212 °F).[2] Unlike many other thermococci, T. litoralis is non-motile. Its cell wall consists only of a single S-layer that does not form hexagonal lattices.[2] Additionally, while many thermococcales obligately use sulfur as an electron acceptor in metabolism, T. litoralis only needs sulfur to help stimulate growth, and can live without it.[3] T. litoralis has recently been popularized by the scientific community for its ability to produce an alternative DNA polymerase to the commonly used Taq polymerase. The T. litoralis polymerase, dubbed the vent polymerase, has been shown to have a lower error rate than Taq due to its proofreading 3’–5’ exonuclease abilities,[5] but higher than Pfu polymerase.

  1. ^ Neuner A, Jannasch HW, Belkin S, Stetter KO (1990). "Thermococcus litoralis sp. nov.: A new species of extremely thermophilic marine archaebacteria". Archives of Microbiology. 153 (2): 205–207. doi:10.1007/BF00247822. ISSN 0302-8933. S2CID 38723928.
  2. ^ a b c d Kostyukova AS, Gongadze GM, Polosina YY, Bonch-Osmolovskaya EA, Miroshnichenko ML, Chernyh NA, Obraztsova MV, Svetlichny VA, Messner P, Sleytr UB, L'Haridon S, Jeanthon C, Prieur D (November 1999). "Investigation of structure and antigenic capacities of Thermococcales cell envelopes and reclassification of "Caldococcus litoralis" Z-1301 as Thermococcus litoralis Z-1301". Extremophiles. 3 (4): 239–45. doi:10.1007/s007920050122. PMID 10591013. S2CID 10052332.
  3. ^ a b Rinker KD, Kelly RM (December 1996). "Growth Physiology of the Hyperthermophilic Archaeon Thermococcus litoralis: Development of a Sulfur-Free Defined Medium, Characterization of an Exopolysaccharide, and Evidence of Biofilm Formation". Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 62 (12): 4478–85. Bibcode:1996ApEnM..62.4478R. doi:10.1128/aem.62.12.4478-4485.1996. PMC 1389002. PMID 16535464.
  4. ^ Bertoldo C, Antranikian G (2006). "Chapter 5: The Order Thermococcales". In Dworkin M, Falkow S, Rosenberg E, Schleifer KH, Stackebrandt E (eds.). The Prokaryotes. Springer New York. pp. 69–81. doi:10.1007/0-387-30743-5_5. ISBN 978-0-387-25493-7.
  5. ^ Synnes, Marianne (2006-08-16). "Bioprospecting of organisms from the deep sea: scientific and environmental aspects". Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy. 9 (1): 53–59. doi:10.1007/s10098-006-0062-7. ISSN 1618-954X. S2CID 83996416.