Methanopyrus
Methanopyrus | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Archaea |
Kingdom: | Euryarchaeota |
Class: | Methanopyri |
Order: | Methanopyrales Huber and Stetter 2002 |
Family: | Methanopyraceae Huber and Stetter 2002 |
Genus: | Methanopyrus Kurr et al. 1992 |
Species: | M. kandleri
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Binomial name | |
Methanopyrus kandleri Kurr et al. 1992
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Methanopyrus is a genus of
Microbiological characteristics
Morphology
Methanopyrus kandleri is a rod-shaped methanogen with an approximate length of 2–14 μm and diameter of 0.5 μm.[3] The cellular membrane of M. kandleri is unique as it consists of terpenoid lipids, believed to be one of the most primitive lipids and a predecessor to phytanyl di-ethers found in later archaea.[3] Terpenoid lipids are a group of lipids containing cholesterol, hopanoids, carotenoid, phytane, and bisphytane.[4] Although terpenoids are the main component of the membrane in M. kandleri, they are more of a supporting structure in eukaryote and bacteria.[4] M. kandleri is motile via polar flagella tufts.[5]
Methanopyrus kandleri has a high concentration of cyclic 2,3-diphosphoglycerate.[3] This compound is often found in hyperthermophile, helping to prevent protein denaturation in high temperatures.[6] The increased concentration of cyclic 2,3-diphosphoglycerate protects the methanogen, helping it survive in an environment that many other organisms could not. Beyond this compound to help protect the proteins, M. kandleri also has a high salt concentration inside its membrane.[3] This increased concentration of salt helps with enzyme stability and promotes activity of the enzymes at higher temperatures.[7]
Metabolism
As a methanogen, M. kandleri utilizes hydrogen as an electron source and reduces carbon dioxide from the environment into methane, a process known as methanogenesis.[3] M. kandleri is a chemolithoautotrophic, obligate anaerobe and does not use oxygen as a final electron acceptor.[3][7]
Habitat
Cultures of M. kandleri have been isolated from various submarine hydrothermal vents from locations in the Gulf of California, Central Indian Ridge, Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and Iceland.
Genomic properties
The complete genome of Methanopyrus kandleri was sequenced by researchers at Fidelity Systems. It was determined to be a GC-rich genome containing 1,694,969 nucleotides of which about 62.1% is guanine or cytosine.[3] The single circular chromosome possesses 1,691 protein-coding genes and 39 RNA genes.[3] The species also possesses a large number of orphan genes, possibly through viral gene transfer.[8]
Future research
Methanopyrus kandleri is also the only species known to have topoisomerase V. Topoisomerase V allows for M. kandleri to survive in such high temperatures and helps to relax both positively and negatively supercoiled DNA .[8] Topoisomerase V is a unique enzyme because it possesses both topoisomerase and DNA repair activities, specifically multiple DNA repair sites that can act independently of each other even if there is damage to one of the sites on the DNA.[9] Although topoisomerase V is useful in this case, finding other hyperthermophiles that have topoisomerase V has proven difficult. This lack of topoisomerase V in other archaeon has led researchers to believe that the origin of the enzyme in M. kandleri is a result of viral gene transfer and the unusual amount of orphan genes in the species provides evidence for this theory.[8] Additionally, the evolved cellular responses in M. kandleri due to its extreme environment has been another subject of research, as scientists look to apply the resilient enzymatic processes for industrial purposes.[5]
See also
References
- ^ See the NCBI webpage on Methanopyrus. Data extracted from the "NCBI taxonomy resources". National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved 2007-03-19.
- ^ PMID 18664583.
- ^ PMID 11930014.
- ^ PMID 25351682.
- ^ ISBN 978-3-642-38953-5, retrieved 2021-10-11
- ^ "InterPro". www.ebi.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
- ^ PMID 1483480.
- ^ PMID 16650908.
- PMID 26908655.
Further reading
- Schacherl M, Waltersperger S, Baumann U (December 2013). "Structural characterization of the ribonuclease H-like type ASKHA superfamily kinase MK0840 from Methanopyrus kandleri". Acta Crystallographica. Section D, Biological Crystallography. 69 (Pt 12): 2440–50. PMID 24311585.
- Su AA, Tripp V, Randau L (July 2013). "RNA-Seq analyses reveal the order of tRNA processing events and the maturation of C/D box and CRISPR RNAs in the hyperthermophile Methanopyrus kandleri". Nucleic Acids Research. 41 (12). PMID 23620296.
- Kurr M, Huber R, König H, Jannasch HW, Fricke H, Trincone A, Kristjansson JK, Stetter KO (September 1991). "Methanopyrus kandleri, gen. and sp. nov. represents a novel group of hyperthermophilic methanogens, growing at 110°C". Archives of Microbiology. 156 (4): 239–247. S2CID 20254769.
- Huber R; Stetter KO (2001). "Family I. Methanopyralceae fam. nov.". In DR Boone; RW Castenholz (eds.). Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology Volume 1: The Archaea and the deeply branching and phototrophic Bacteria (2nd ed.). New York: ISBN 978-0-387-98771-2.