Cultivation of a thermophilic ammonia oxidizing archaeon synthesizing crenarchaeol.
de la Torre, Jose R. 1,+; Walker, Christopher B. 1,+; Ingalls, Anitra E. 2; Konneke, Martin 3; Stahl, David A. 1,*
[Article]
Environmental Microbiology.
10(3):810-818, March 2008.
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Summary: The widespread occurrence and diversity of ammonia oxidizing Archaea suggests their contribution to the nitrogen cycle is of global significance. Their distribution appeared limited to low- and moderate-temperature environments until the recent finding of a diagnostic membrane lipid, crenarchaeol, in terrestrial hot springs. We report here the cultivation of a thermophilic nitrifier ('Candidatus Nitrosocaldus yellowstonii'), an autotrophic crenarchaeote growing up to 74[degrees]C by aerobic ammonia oxidation. The major core lipid of this archaeon growing at 72[degrees]C is crenarchaeol, providing the first direct evidence for its synthesis by a thermophile. These findings greatly extend the upper temperature limit of nitrification and document that the capacity for ammonia oxidation is broadly distributed among the Crenarchaeota.
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