Thermococci

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

Thermococci
Scientific classification
Domain:
Archaea
Kingdom:
Euryarchaeota
Phylum:
Euryarchaeota
Class:
Thermococci
Order
Synonyms
  • Protoarchaea
  • Protoarchaea Cavalier-Smith 2002
  • Thermococci Zillig and Reysenbach 2002

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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