Sulfurisphaera tokodaii

Sulfurisphaera tokodaii is a thermophilic archaeon of the Thermoproteota phylum. This species lives can grow as a chemoheterotroph and a lithoautotroph[2]

Sulfurisphaera tokodaii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Archaea
Kingdom: Proteoarchaeota
Superphylum: TACK group
Phylum: Thermoproteota
Class: Thermoprotei
Order: Sulfolobales
Family: Sulfolobaceae
Genus: Sulfurisphaera
Species:
S. tokodaii
Binomial name
Sulfurisphaera tokodaii
(Suzuki et al. 2002) Tsuboi et al. 2018
Synonyms[1]
  • Sulfolobus tokodaii Suzuki et al. 2002

Morphology

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Sulfurisphaera tokodaii presents as an irregular cocci of approximately 2 μm in diameter. It is able to grow within a ph range of 2-3 and a temperature range of 75-80 °C. This species has flagellar motility.[3]

Metabolism

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S. tokodaii is chemoheterotrophic under oxygenic conditions, using sulfur to reduce small organic compounds for energy and as a carbon source. However, under anoxygenic conditions, can also grow lithoautotrophically by using sulfur oxidation to fix carbon dioxide. This species is also capable of oxidizing hydrogen sulfide to sulfate intracellularly.[2]

Genome

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The type strain of S. tokodaii is referred to as strain 7, and was originally isolated from the Beppu hotsprings, on Kyushu Island, Japan. Strain 7 has a genome size of 2.7 Mbp, as well as a GC content of 32.8%. It has approximately 2,826 identified genes. The GenBank accession number for this strain is NC_003106.[4]

Environment

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This species inhabits thermophilic and acidophilic conditions. Normally, the species exists within hot springs, but it can also exist within mud pots, pools of boiling mud around active volcanoes. These both have high sulfur content, although mud pots have lower water activity than hot springs.[5][3]

Technological applications

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Industrial process can produce more sulfur than the environment naturally cycles. Because this industrially produced sulfur can come in the form of hydrogen sulfide, this microbe can potentially be used to clean up acidification of natural bodies of water due to its ability to fix hydrogen sulfide into a non toxic, non water-soluble elemental form that can be cleaned up later without risk to health.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "Sulfurisphaera tokodaii". National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Sulfolobus tokodaii - microbewiki". microbewiki.kenyon.edu. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
  3. ^ a b Suzuki, Toshiharu; Iwasaki, Toshio; Uzawa, Taketoshi; Hara, Kurt; Nemoto, Naoki; Kon, Takahide; Ueki, Toshiaki; Yamagishi, Akihiko; Oshima, Tairo (2002-02-01). "Sulfolobus tokodaii sp. nov. (f. Sulfolobus sp. strain 7), a new member of the genus Sulfolobus isolated from Beppu Hot Springs, Japan". Extremophiles. 6 (1): 39–44. doi:10.1007/s007920100221. ISSN 1431-0651. PMID 11878560. S2CID 20951692.
  4. ^ Kawarabayasi, Y. (2001-01-01). "Complete Genome Sequence of an Aerobic Thermoacidophilic Crenarchaeon, Sulfolobus tokodaii strain7". DNA Research. 8 (4): 123–140. doi:10.1093/dnares/8.4.123. ISSN 1340-2838. PMID 11572479.
  5. ^ Hendricks, P. (2000). Bat survey along the Norris-Madison Junction Road corridor, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 1999 / a report to National Park Service, Yellowstone National Park; submitted by Paul Hendricks. Helena, Mont.: Montana Natural Heritage Program. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.35949.