Pyrococcus furiosus

Taxobox
color = #taxobox color|Archaea
name="Pyrococcus furiosus"
domain = Archaea
phylum = Euryarchaeota
classis = Thermococci
ordo = Thermococcales
familia = Thermococcaceae
genus = "Pyrococcus"
species = "P. furiosus"
binomial = "Pyrococcus furiosus"
binomial_authority = Erauso "et al." 1993

"Pyrococcus furiosus" is an extremophilic species of Archaea. It is notable for having an optimum growth temperature of 100°C (a temperature which would destroy most living organisms), and for being one of the few organisms identified as possessing enzymes containing tungsten, an element rarely found in biological molecules.

Properties

"Pyrococcus furiosus" is noted for its rapid doubling time of 37 minutes under optimal conditions. It appears as mostly regular cocci of 0.8 µm to 1.5 µm diameter with monopolar polytrichous flagellation. It grows between convert|70|°C|°F|lk=on and convert|103|°C|°F, with an optimum temperature of convert|100|°C|°F, and between pH 5 and 9 (with an optimum at pH 7). It grows well on yeast extract, maltose, cellobiose, β-glucans, starch, and protein sources (tryptone, peptone, casein and meat extracts). Growth is very slow, or nonexistent, on amino acids, organic acids, alcohols, and most carbohydrates (including glucose, fructose, lactose and galactose).

The ability to grow on polysaccharides (maltose, cellobiose, starch) but not on the monomeric sugars suggests that oligosaccharides with various degrees of polymerization may be imported into the cell, and only afterwards hydrolyzed to glucose.

Uses

The enzymes of "Pyrococcus furiosus" are extremely thermostable. Consequently the DNA Polymerase from "Pyrococcus furiosus" (also known as Pfu DNA polymerase) can be used in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) DNA amplification process.

Discovery

"Pyrococcus furiosus" was originally isolated anaerobically from geothermally heated marine sediments with temperatures between convert|90|°C|°F and convert|100|°C|°F collected at the beach of Porto Levante, Vulcano Island, Italy. It was first described by Dr. Karl Stetter of the University of Regensburg in Germany, and a colleague, Dr. Gerhard Fiala.

Genome

The sequencing of the complete genome of "Pyrococcus furiosus" was completed in 2001 by scientists at the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute. The Maryland team found that the genome had 1,908 kilobases, coding for some 2,065 proteins.

The extremophile's scientific name

The name " _gr. Pyrococcus" means "fireberry" in Greek, to refer to the extremophile's round shape and ability to grow in temperatures of around 100 degrees Celsius. The species name " _la. furiosus" means 'rushing' in Latin, and refers to the extremophile's doubling time.

References

*cite journal
author = Fiala, G.; Stetter, K. O.
year = 1986
title = "Pyrococcus furiosus" sp. nov. represents a novel genus of marine heterotrophic archaebacteria growing optimally at 100°C
journal = Archives of Microbiology
volume = 145
pages = 56–61
doi = 10.1007/BF00413027
*cite journal
author = Robb, F. T.; Maeder, D. L.; Brown, J. R.; DiRuggiero, J.; Stump, M. D.; Yeh, R. K.; Weiss, R. B.; Dunn, D. M.
year = 2001
title = Genomic sequence of hyperthermophile, "Pyrococcus furiosus": implications for physiology and enzymology
journal = Methods in Enzymology
volume = 330
pages = 134–57