![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/Thermococcus_gammatolerans.jpg/640px-Thermococcus_gammatolerans.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Thermococci
Class of archaea / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In taxonomy, the Thermococci are a class of microbes within the Euryarchaeota.[1]
![]() | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
Thermococci | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Thermococcus gammatolerans | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | |
Kingdom: | |
Phylum: | |
Class: | Thermococci Zillig and Reysenbach 2002 |
Order | |
| |
Synonyms | |
|
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/93/Schematic_diagram_of_a_Thermococcus_gammatolerans_cell.jpg/640px-Schematic_diagram_of_a_Thermococcus_gammatolerans_cell.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3e/Pyrococcus_furiosus.png/640px-Pyrococcus_furiosus.png)
They live in extremely hot environments, such as hydrothermal vents, and they have optimal growth temperatures above 80 °C. Thermococcus and Pyrococcus (literally "balls of fire") are both obligately anaerobic chemoorganotrophs.
Thermococcus prefers 70–95 °C and Pyrococcus 70-100 °C. Palaeococcus helgesonii, recently discovered in the Tyrrhenian Sea, is an aerobic chemoheterotrophic that grows at temperatures of 45–85 °C with an optimal temperature of 80 °C. Thermococcus gammatolerans sp. nov. was recently discovered in the Guaymas Basin, and it grows at temperatures from 55–95 °C with an optimal temperature around 88 °C with an optimal pH of 6. It has pronounced radioresistance and can survive gamma radiation at 30 kGy.[2]
Thermococcus grows on organic substrates where there is a higher capacity of elemental sulfur. This archaeon mostly grows between temperatures 60–100 degrees Celsius. The average temperature where they thrive is around 85 degrees Celcius.
The DNA structure has a cicular genome with around 2,353 coding sequence, and 2,306 are identified.