Ultrathin mycelia-forming organisms from submarine volcanic areas having an optimum growth temperature of 105 °C (original) (raw)

Nature volume 300, pages 258–260 (1982)Cite this article

Abstract

The most extremely thermophilic organisms known to date have been isolated from continental volcanic areas1–3, and grow optimally between 70 and 85 °C. In the hope of finding organisms living at temperatures above 100 °C I have taken samples from the hot sea floor of a submarine solfatara field where, as a result of the high pressures liquid water is found that is hotter than 100 °C. Here I report that, from these samples, I isolated unusual disk-shaped prokaryotic organisms, connected by a network of thin hyphae, which grew at 100 °C in the presence of sulphur, hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The organisms could be successfully transferred to synthetic media and were strict anaerobes, growing optimally at 105 °C and not at all at 80 °C or below. However, they did survive for long periods at 4 °C and −20 °C in the absence of oxygen. During growth, H2S was formed by sulphur reduction. Due to their extreme oxygen sensitivity, their unusual, irregular shape and primitive volcano-adapted metabolism, the novel organisms may represent a very ancient form of life existing in submarine volcanic areas in a water-supplied oxygen-free habitat, which has not changed for billions of years and which prevents competition with normal life due to prohibitively hot temperatures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lehrstuhl für Mikrobiologie, Universität Regensburg, Universitätsstraße 31, D-8400, Regensburg, FRG
    Karl O. Stetter

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Stetter, K. Ultrathin mycelia-forming organisms from submarine volcanic areas having an optimum growth temperature of 105 °C.Nature 300, 258–260 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/300258a0

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