Thermococcus litoralis

hydrothermal vents as well as shallow submarine thermal springs and oil wells.^[2][3][4] It is an anaerobic organotroph hyperthermophile that is between 0.5–3.0 μm (20–118 μin) in diameter.^[2] Like the other species in the order thermococcales, T. litoralis is an irregular hyperthermophile coccus that grows between 55–100 °C (131–212 °F).^[2] Unlike many other thermococci, T. litoralis is non-motile. Its cell wall consists only of a single S-layer that does not form hexagonal lattices.^[2] Additionally, while many thermococcales obligately use sulfur as an electron acceptor in metabolism, T. litoralis only needs sulfur to help stimulate growth, and can live without it.^[3] T. litoralis has recently been popularized by the scientific community for its ability to produce an alternative DNA polymerase to the commonly used Taq polymerase. The T. litoralis polymerase, dubbed the vent polymerase, has been shown to have a lower error rate than Taq but due to its proofreading 3’–5’ exonuclease abilities.^[5]

sulfites, and phosphorus.^[3]

PFK instead of an ATP dependent versions of the enzymes.^[4]

DNA-DNA hybridization, C–G ratios (38–41 mol%), and immunoblotting analyses. They slightly differ in morphology from the previously isolated T. litoralis in that they all have flagella.^[2] Through the same processes it has been shown that the previously discovered Caldococcus litoralis was actually T. litoralis.^[2]