Pyrococcus abyssi

A Microbial Biorealm page on the genus Pyrococcus abyssi

Classification

Higher order taxa

Archaea; Euryarchaeota; Thermococci; Thermococcales; Thermococcaceae; Pyrococcus

Species

NCBI: Taxonomy

Pyrococcus abyssi

Description and significance

Pyrococcus abyssi is found near deep sea hyperthermal vents off of the Southwest region of the Pacific Ocean where the temperatures can reach as high as 102C and pressures can be up to 200 atm. This organism was collected in the smoker material and sea water surrounding these hyperthermal vents. Because of their ability to survive in these extreme conditions, the genome of P. abyssi has been completely sequenced. Since not much has been studied on hyperthermophiles, P. abyssi has been used as a model organism in the laboratories. Hopefully through the analysis of this organism, better understanding and greater genetic tools can be achieved through it's study.

Current Research

The hyperthermophilic euryarchaeon Pyrococcus abyssi and the related species Pyrococcus furiosus and Pyrococcus horikoshii, whose genomes have been completely sequenced, are presently used as model organisms in different laboratories to study archaeal DNA replication and gene expression and to develop genetic tools for hyperthermophiles. We have performed an extensive re-annotation of the genome of P. abyssi to obtain an integrated view of its phylogeny, molecular biology and physiology. Many new functions are predicted for both informational and operational proteins. Moreover, several candidate genes have been identified that might encode missing links in key metabolic pathways, some of which have unique biochemical features. The great majority of Pyrococcus proteins are typical archaeal proteins and their phylogenetic pattern agrees with its position near the root of the archaeal tree. However, proteins probably from bacterial origin, including some from mesophilic bacteria, are also present in the P. abyssi genome.

A minimal growth medium containing only nine amino acids and vitamins as the sole carbon and energy sources allowed the growth of Pyrococcus abyssi GE 5, a novel hyperthermophilic sulfur-metabolizing archaeon isolated from deep-sea hydrothermal vents. The generation time in this medium was about 40 min, and cell densities up to 5 x 10(sup8) cells ml(sup-1) were attained. These results are similar to those obtained previously with complex proteinaceous media.

References

[Sample reference] Takai, K., Sugai, A., Itoh, T., and Horikoshi, K. "Palaeococcus ferrophilus gen. nov., sp. nov., a barophilic, hyperthermophilic archaeon from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent chimney". International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. 2000. Volume 50. p. 489-500.

Cohen GN, Barbe V, Flament D, Galperin M, Heilig R, Lecompte O, Poch O, Prieur D, Querellou J, Ripp R, Thierry JC, Van der Oost J, Weissenbach J, Zivanovic Y, Forterre P. "An integrated analysis of the genome of the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus abyssi". Molecular Microbiology. 2003 Mar;47(6):1495-512.

http://aem.asm.org/cgi/reprint/61/3/1138 Minimal Amino Acid Requirements of the Hyperthermophilic Archaeon Pyrococcus abyssi, Isolated from Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents Appl. Environ. Microbiol., Mar 1995, 1138-1140, Vol 61, No. 3 Copyright © 1995, American Society for Microbiology

• Georges N. Cohen, Valérie Barbe, Didier Flament, Michael Galperin, Roland Heilig, Odile Lecompte, Olivier Poch, Daniel Prieur, Joël Quérellou, Raymond Ripp, Jean-Claude Thierry, John Van der Oost, Jean Weissenbach, Yvan Zivanovic, Patrick Forterre (2003)

An integrated analysis of the genome of the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus abyssi Molecular Microbiology 47 (6), 1495–1512. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2958.2003.03381.x

• C. Geslin,* M. Le Romancer, G. Erauso, M. Gaillard, G. Perrot, and D. Prieur. 2003. PAV1, the First Virus-Like Particle Isolated from a Hyperthermophilic Euryarchaeote, “Pyrococcus abyssi”.J Bacteriol. 2003 July; 185(13): 3888–3894.

Edited by Stephine Chow