Pyrobaculum islandicum
A Microbial Biorealm page on the genus Pyrobaculum islandicum
Classification
Higher order taxa
Domain: Archaea
Phylum: Crenarchaeota
Class: Thermoprotei
Order: Thermoproteales
Family: Thermoproteaceae
Genus: Pyrobaculum
Species
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NCBI: Taxonomy |
Pyrobaculum islandicum
Description and significance
Describe the appearance, habitat, etc. of the organism, and why it is important enough to have its genome sequenced. Describe how and where it was isolated. Include a picture or two (with sources) if you can find them.
[1] Pyrobaculum islandicum (DSM 4184) is a rod-shaped hyperthermophilic neutrophilic archaebacteria which was first obtained from boiling sulfataric and geothermal waters in Iceland. The latin root of the name "Pyrobaculum" literally means "firestick", where the syllable "pyro" serves to denote the organism's ability to grow at temperatures above 100°C. The species name "islandicum" denotes Icelandic in relevance to its origin of isolation.
Appearance: Pyrobaculum islandicum are a gram-negative rod-shaped organism with almost rectangular ends. Cells are usually about 2.5 μm long and exhibit bipolar polytrichous flagellation, each flagellum up to 15 μm long and about 13 nm in width. They occur singly and in V-, X-, and raft-shaped aggregates. They can sometimes be seen with terminal spheres (commonly referred to as "golf-club" structures), which appear during its exponential growth phase. No septa formation has yet been observed during cell division. Pb. islandicum colonies are grey or greenish-black in color.
Genome structure
Describe the size and content of the genome. How many chromosomes? Circular or linear? Other interesting features? What is known about its sequence? Does it have any plasmids? Are they important to the organism's lifestyle?
Cell structure and metabolism
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Ecology
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Pathology
How does this organism cause disease? Human, animal, plant hosts? Virulence factors, as well as patient symptoms.
Application to Biotechnology
Does this organism produce any useful compounds or enzymes? What are they and how are they used?
Current Research
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References
Edited by student of Rachel Larsen
