Microbial Diversity of Marine and Terrestrial Thermal Springs
Table 14: Page 1 of 1
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Table 14: The Genera Pyrococcus and Palaeococcus
Species Location Morphology
Temperature
(optimum, °C)
pH Range
(Optimum)
Metabolism Electron Donor Electron Acceptor Comments Ref.
Pyrococcus furiosus Marine sediments, Vulcano, Porto di Levante, Italy Slightly irregular cocci; motile
70-103
(100)
5-9
(7)
O Yeast extract; peptone; tryptone; meat extract; casein; starch; maltose; cellobiose; glycogen; pullulan; pyruvate Organics H2 and CO2 are metabolic end products; H2 inhibits growth; detoxification with S(0)
Fiala and Stetter (1986)
Pyrococcus abyssi Deep-sea hydrothermal vent, North Fiji Basin Regular to slightly irregular cocci; motile
67-102
(96)
nd
(7-7.5)
O Brain heart infusion; yeast extract; tryptone; meat extract; peptone; amino acids Organics Paracrystalline structure within cytoplasm and bundles of striated fibers Erauso et al. (1993)
Pyrococcus woesei Marine solfataras, Porto di Levante, Vulcano, Italy Slightly irregular cocci
nd-104.8
(100-103)
4.7-7.5
(6)
O Yeast extract; tryptone; glycogen; starch; gellan Organics Polysaccharide utilization requires H2 and S(0) Zillig et al. (1987)
Pyrococcus horikoshi Deep-sea hydrothermal vent, Okinawa trough, NE Pacific Ocean Slightly irregular cocci
80-102
(98)
5-8
(7)
O Peptone; yeast extract; beef extract; tryptone; casein; amino acids Organics Tryptophan required for growth Gonzales et al. (1998)
Pyrococcus glycovorans Deep-sea hydrothermal vent, East Pacific Rise, 13 deg N Cocci; motile
75-104
(95)
2.5-9.5
(7.5)
O Brain heart infusion; yeast extract; peptone; meat extract; starch; chitin; maltose; glucose; cellobiose; amino acids Organics S(0) enhances growth Barbier et al. (1999)
Palaeococcus ferrophilus Deep-sea hydrothermal vent, Myojin Knoll, Ogasawara-Bonin Arc, Japan Irregular cocci; motile
60-88
(83)
4-8
(6)
O Yeast extract; peptone; tryptone; casein Organics S(0) and ferrous iron required Takai et al. (2000)
O, organotroph; not determined