Kineococcus radiotolerans

From MicrobeWiki, the student-edited microbiology resource

Classification

Bacteria (Domain); Actinobacteria (Phylum); Actinobacteria (Class); Actinomycetales (Order); Kineosporiaceae (Family); Kineococcus (Genus)

Species

NCBI: Taxonomy

Kineococcus radiotolerans

Description and Significance

K. radiotolerans was first recognized at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina where scientists were studying decades-old, high level nuclear waste inside tanks. Colonies are orange and round with rough edges while individual cells are coccus shaped, about 1.5 µm in diameter. This pigment color is a result of a carotenoid with absorption peaks at approximately 444, 471 and 501 nm. Kineococcus radiotolerans is a catalase-positive, oxidase-negative, urease-negative organism that normally grows in clusters but on average 1% of the cells are motile due to flagella. Each one of these cells is surrounded by a thick extra-cellular polymer shell. Growth is most abundant with temperatures ranging between 11º and 41º C and with a pH level between 5 and 9.

This bacterium thrives in normally deadly radiation and has incredible survival characteristics in terms of DNA. It has the ability to reassemble its own DNA within five to six hours after being blasted into several little pieces. This is a process that cannot be endured in humans and most other organisms. With this information, hopefully further research will lead to clues that could aid in medical research and cancer studies.

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?


Cell Structure, Metabolism and Life Cycle

Interesting features of cell structure; how it gains energy; what important molecules it produces.


Ecology and Pathogenesis

Habitat; symbiosis; biogeochemical significance; contributions to environment.
If relevant, how does this organism cause disease? Human, animal, plant hosts? Virulence factors, as well as patient symptoms.

References

1. Bagwell, Christopher E., Swapna Bhat, Gary M. Hawkins, Bryan W. Smith, Tapan Biswas, Timothy R. Hoover, Elizabeth Saunders, Cliff S. Han, Oleg V. Tsodikov, and Lawrence J. Shimkets. "Survival in Nuclear Waste, Extreme Resistance, and Potential Applications Gleaned from the Genome Sequence of Kineococcus radiotolerans SRS30216." PLoS ONE 3 (2008). PLos ONE. 5 Dec. 2008. PubMed Central. Apr. 2009 <http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=19057647>.

2. "Genome Project Result." NCBI HomePage. 17 Apr. 2009 <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=genomeprj&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=Overview&list_uids=10689>.

3. Pavey, Rob. "Organism found at SRS amazes scientific world." The Augusta Chronicle 30 Apr. 2007. Apr. 2009 <http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/latest/lat_126668.shtml>.

4. Phillips, Robert W., Juergen Wiegel, Christopher J. Berry, Carl Fliermans, Aaron D. Peacock, David C. White, and Lawrence J. Shimkets. "Kineococcus radiotolerans sp. nov., a radiationresistant, Gram-positive bacterium." International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology (2002): 933-38. PubMed. NCBI. Apr. 2009 <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12054260>.

Author

Page authored by _____, student of Prof. Jay Lennon at Michigan State University.