Acidianus brierleyi
1. Classification
a. Higher order taxa
Archaea; Thermoproteota;Thermoprotei; Sulfolobales; Sulfolobaceae
b. Species
Acidianus brierleyi (1)
2. Description and significance
Acidianus brierleyi is a species of Archaea in the family Sulfolobaceae that lives at extreme temperature and acidity, found in volcanoes and acidic hot springs (2). A. brierleyi metabolizes metals within these habitats, making it potentially valuable for biomining, bioleaching, and bioremediation (3). Other members of the Sulfolobaceae family do not utilize sulfur as an electron donor despite the large amounts of sulfur in their environment, from which they received their namesake (2). Progress has been made in sequencing the genome and studying metabolic pathways in A. brierleyi although aspects of its functional capabilities and ecological roles remain unresolved.
3. Genome structure
Acidianus brierleyi possesses a circular chromosome, with no plasmids. The complete genome comprises 2,947,156 base pairs and contains 2,871 protein-coding genes. The GC content is approximately 31% (2). Compared to other genera such as Sulfolobus or Metallosphaera, A. brierleyi has a relatively lower GC content. The genome contains genes associated with acidophilic adaptation and heavy metal resistance, like CorA family divalent cation transporter and Fox complex (12). Additionally, as a member of the Sulfolobaceae family, A. brierleyi encodes sulfur metabolism pathways involved in sulfur oxidation and mobilization, such as sulfurtransferase and sulfur oxygenase/reductase (12). Conversely, its relatively large genome size is postulated to encode genes that provide broader metabolic capacity and increased environmental adaptability by possessing expanded sets of lithotrophic and stress-response genes. These genes include sulfur-processing genes such as sulfide:quinone oxidoreductase paralogs, components of the metal-oxidation Fox gene cluster, and acidophily-associated proteins such as OsmC-family peroxiredoxins (12).
4. Cell structure
Interesting features of cell structure. Can be combined with “metabolic processes”
5. Metabolic processes
Describe important sources of energy, electrons, and carbon (i.e. trophy) for the organism/organisms you are focusing on, as well as important molecules it/they synthesize(s).
6. Ecology
Habitat; symbiosis; contributions to the environment.
7. Pathology
How does this organism cause disease? Human, animal, plant hosts? Virulence factors, as well as patient symptoms.
8. Current Research
Include information about how this microbe (or related microbes) are currently being studied and for what purpose
References
1. Schoch, C. L., Ciufo, S., Domrachev, M., Hotton, C. L., Kannan, S., Khovanskaya, R., Leipe, D., Mcveigh, R., O’Neill, K., Robbertse, B., Sharma, S., Soussov, V., Sullivan, J. P., Sun, L., Turner, S., & Karsch-Mizrachi, I. (2020). NCBI taxonomy: A comprehensive update on curation, resources and Tools. Database, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1093/database/baaa062
2. Counts, James A., Nicholas P. Vitko, and Robert M. Kelly. 2018. Complete Genome Sequences of Extremely Thermoacidophilic Metal-Mobilizing Type Strain Members of the Archaeal Family Sulfolobaceae, Acidianus Brierleyi DSM-1651, Acidianus Sulfidivorans DSM-18786, and Metallosphaera Hakonensis DSM-7519. Microbiology Resource Announcements 7, no. 2. https://doi.org/10.1128/mra.00831-18.
3. Wheaton, Garrett, James Counts, Arpan Mukherjee, Jessica Kruh, and Robert Kelly. 2015. The Confluence of Heavy Metal Biooxidation and Heavy Metal Resistance: Implications for Bioleaching by Extreme Thermoacidophiles. Minerals 5, no. 3: 397–451. https://doi.org/10.3390/min5030397.
4. Higashidani, Naoki, Takashi Kaneta, Nobuyuki Takeyasu, Shoji Motomizu, Naoko Okibe, and Keiko Sasaki. 2014. Speciation of Arsenic in a Thermoacidophilic Iron-Oxidizing Archaeon, Acidianus Brierleyi, and Its Culture Medium by Inductively Coupled Plasma–Optical Emission Spectroscopy Combined with Flow Injection Pretreatment Using an Anion-Exchange Mini-Column. Talanta 122: 240–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2014.01.057.
5. Segerer, A., Neuner, A., Kristjansson, J. K., & Stetter, K. O. 1986. Acidianus Infernus gen. Nov., sp. nov., and acidianus brierleyi comb. nov.: Facultatively aerobic, extremely acidophilic thermophilic sulfur-metabolizing archaebacteria. International Journal of Systematic Bacteriology, 36(4), 559–564. https://doi.org/10.1099/00207713-36-4-559.
6. Leung, P.M., Grinter, R., Tudor-Matthew, E. et al. 2024. Trace gas oxidation sustains energy needs of a thermophilic archaeon at suboptimal temperatures. Nat Commun 15, 3219. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-47324-2.
7. Zhang, X., Shi, H., Tan, N. et al. Advances in bioleaching of waste lithium batteries under metal ion stress. 2023. Bioresour. Bioprocess. 10, 19. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40643-023-00636-5.
8. Camila Castro, Ruiyong Zhang, Jing Liu, Sören Bellenberg, Thomas R. Neu, Edgardo Donati, Wolfgang Sand, Mario Vera. 2016. Biofilm formation and interspecies interactions in mixed cultures of thermo-acidophilic archaea Acidianus spp. and Sulfolobus metallicus. Research in Microbiology, Volume 167, Issue 7, Pages 604-612, ISSN 0923-2508. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resmic.2016.06.005.
9. Aguilar-López R, Medina-Moreno SA, Sharma A, Tec-Caamal EN. 2022. Synergistic Effect of As(III)/Fe(II) Oxidation by Acidianus brierleyi and the Exopolysaccharide Matrix for As(V) Removal and Bioscorodite Crystallization: A Data-Driven Modeling Insight. Processes.10(11):2363. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr10112363.
10. Pei J., Zuo, J., Wang, X., Yin, J., Liu, L., Fan, W. 2019. The Bioaccumulation and Tissue Distribution of Arsenic Species in Tilapia, Int J Environ Res Public Health, 16(5):757, doi: 10.3390/ijerph16050757. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph1605075.
11. Dinkla, I. J. T., Gericke, M., Geurkink, B. K., & Hallberg, K. B. (2009). Acidianus brierleyi is the dominant thermoacidophile in a bioleaching community processing chalcopyrite containing concentrates at 70°C. Advanced Materials Research, 71–73, 67–70. https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.71-73.67
12. Counts, J. A., Willard, D. J., & Kelly, R. M. (2021). Life in hot acid: a genome-based reassessment of the archaeal order Sulfolobales. Environmental microbiology, 23(7), 3568–3584. https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.15189
13. Zhang, R., Neu, T. R., Li, Q., Blanchard, V., Zhang, Y., Schippers, A., & Sand, W. (2019). Insight Into Interactions of Thermoacidophilic Archaea With Elemental Sulfur: Biofilm Dynamics and EPS Analysis. Frontiers in microbiology, 10, 896. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.00896
Edited by Rachel Huang, SJ Park, Savannah Parke and Caden Witt, students of Jennifer Bhatnagar
for [http://www.bu.edu/academics/cas/courses/cas-bi-311/ BI 311 General
Microbiology], 2024, Boston University.
[[Category:Pages edited by students of Jennifer Bhatnagar at Boston University]]
