Extreme thermophiles

The demonstration unit was later transported to the CECOS faciHty at Niagara Falls, New York. In tests performed in 1985, approximately 3400 L of a mixed waste containing 2-chlorophenol [95-57-8] nitrobenzene [98-95-3] and 1,1,2-trichloroethane [79-00-5] were processed over 145 operating hours 2-propanol was used as a supplemental fuel the temperature was maintained at 615 to 635°C. Another 95-h test was conducted on a PCB containing transformer waste. Very high destmction efficiencies were achieved for all compounds studied (17). A later bench-scale study, conducted at Smith Kline and French Laboratories in conjunction with Modar (18), showed that simulated chemical and biological wastes, a fermentation broth, and extreme thermophilic bacteria were all completely destroyed within detection limits. 

Metalloenzymes and Redox Proteins from Extremely Thermophilic Bacteria... 

Archaea belonging to the kingdom Crenarchaeota deserve attention. Although it has been assumed that these are extreme thermophiles, members of this group have been identified by molecular techniques in other habitats, for example, soils (Buckley et al. 1998), boreal forest soil (Jurgens et al. 1997), and in plant extracts (Simon et al. 2005). 

Mukund S, MWW Adams (1993) Characterization of a novel tungsten-containing formaldehyde oxidoreductase from the extremely thermophilic archaeon. Thermococcus litoralis. J Biol Chem 268 13592-13600. 

Juszczak A, S Aono, MWW Adams (1991) The extremely thermophilic eubacterium Thermotoga maritima, contains a novel iron-hydrogenase whose cellular activity is dependent upon tungsten. J Biol Chem 266 13834-13841. 

Taya M, H Hinoki, T Kobayashi (1985) Tungsten requirement of an extremely thermophilic cellulolytic anaerobe (strain NA 10). Agric Biol Chem 49 2513-2515. 

Membranes of extreme halophilic (Kushwaha et al. 1975, Anwar et al. 1977, Anton et al. 2002, Lutnaes et al. 2002, Oren 2002) and thermophilic bacteria (Alfredsson et al. 1988, Yokoyama et al. 1995) contain a large concentration of polar carotenoids. Membranes of these bacteria, which live in extreme conditions, should provide a high barrier to block nonspecific permeation of polar and nonpolar molecules. Incorporation of dipolar carotenoids into these membranes at a high concentration serves this purpose well because dipolar carotenoids increase the hydrophobic barrier for polar molecules (Wisniewska and Subczynski 1998, Wisniewska et al. 2006) and increase the rigidity barrier... 

Could it be the case that microorganisms, like the suspected fossils in the Mars meteorite ALH 84001, exist in the Martian soil This question leads to the counterquestion as to whether it has previously been possible to detect and study life (primitive life forms) under highly extreme conditions. Are there such conditions on Earth We now know quite a lot about extremophiles such as the thermophilic, halophilic and hyperthermophilic microorganisms. 

In consideration of thermal stability, a calorimetric investigation of Ure2p prion domain-containing filaments detected no evidence of these domains denaturing up to 105°C (Baxa et al., 2004). In comparison, most proteins denature at temperatures of 50—70°C and rarely exceed 80—90°C, except for proteins of extreme thermophiles. 

Adams, M. W. W. (1990) The metabolism of hydrogen by extremely thermophilic, sulfur-dependent Bacteria. FEMS Microbiol. Rev., 75, 219-38. 

Kletzin A. 1994. Sulfur oxidation and reduction in Archaea— sulfur oxygenase/reductase and hydrogenase from the extremely thermophilic and facultatively anaerobic archaeon Desulfurolobus ambivalens. Syst Appl Microbiol 16 534-43. 

Takai K, Inoue A, Horikoshi K. 1999. Thermaerobacter marianensis gen. nov., sp. nov., an aerobic extremely thermophilic marine bacterium from the 11000m deep Mariana Trench. Int J Syst Bacteriol 49 619-28. 

The C-terminal domain (85 amino acid residues, not completely denatured at 90 °C) of the so-called a subunit of the RNAP from the extremely thermophilic eubacterium T. thermophilus (Tt) has been expressed uniformly N/ C-labelled and structurally characterized by the NMR spectroscopy. The tertiary structure of the domain, comprising a helical turn and four helices, was found to be almost identical to that of the corresponding domain from the mesophilic E. coli, despite 32% sequence homology. The interaction of the Tt domain with a variety of DNAs at 37 °C and 50 °C was investigated by chemical shift perturbation of the NMR signals and the DNA binding site was localized. ... 

Thermophilic enzymes are active and stable at high temperature (> 60 C) but they are generally inactive and extremely stable at low temperature (< 25 C). The molecular basis has not been elaborated to explain such thermophilicity. In general, thermophilic enzymes do not denature at high temperature and their activity is higher due to the Qio rule where a 10°C increase results in a doubling of chemical activity. 

Caldariellaquinone, from an extremely thermophilic and acidophilic bacterium Caldariella acidophila, is a unique sulphur-containing benzoquinone with structure (161), 6-(3,7,11,15,19,23-hexamethyltetracosyl)-5-methylthiobenzo[( ]thiophen-4,7-quinone. The structure was deduced from spectroscopic data (including H and n.m.r.) and chemical degradation. 

Bhattacharya, D. Friedl, T. Schmidt, H.A. (1999) The phytogeny of thermophiles and hyperthermophiles and the three domains of life. In Enigmatic Microorganisms and Life in Extreme Environments, Seckbach, J., ed., Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Netherlands, pp. 291-304. 

Littlechild, J.A. Davies, G.J. Gamblin, S.J. Watson, H.C. Phosphoglycerate kinase from the extreme thermophile Thermus thermophilus. Crystallization and preliminary X-ray data. FEBS Lett., 225, 123-126 (1987)... 

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