Staphylothermus marinus
A Microbial Biorealm page on the genus Staphylothermus marinus
Classification
Higher order taxa
Archaea; Crenarchaeota; Thermoprotei; Desulfurococcales; Desulfurococcaceae; Staphylothermus
Species
Staphylothermus marinus
NCBI: Taxonomy
Description and significance
Staphylothermus marinus is a marine organism that was isolated from hydrothermal sediment off the the coast of Vulcano Island in Italy. It can also be found from "black smokers" on the ocean floor. In a rich medium, Staphylothermus marinus grows in an optimum temperature of 92 degrees Celsius, but when nutrients are sparce, the optimum temperature drops to 85 degrees Celsius. For growth in a lab, a complex nutrient source is needed for optimum growth.
The morphology of the Staphylothermus marinus can differ depending on the nutrients available. When nutrients are plentiful, Staphylothermus marinus grow as giant cells in a slightly irregular coccus shape with diameters up to 15 mm. Low nutrient concentrations produce little cells with diameters ranging from 0.5 to 1.0 mm. Up to 100 of these cells can cluster together to form grape-like groups.
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Genome structure
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Cell structure and metabolism
The cell wall of Staphylothermus marinus is an unusual stucture called tetrabrachion. It is a glycoprotein complex that is very stable at high temperatures which is even resistant to chemicals that denature proteins. Tetrabrachion
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Ecology
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Pathology
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Application to Biotechnology
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Current Research
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References
Edited by Julie Liu student of Rachel Larsen