Cultivation of a thermophilic ammonia oxidizing archaeon synthesizing crenarchaeol.
Environ Microbiol 10(3):810-8 (2008) PMID 18205821
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.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1462-2920.2007.01506.xVersion: za2963e q8za4 q8zb0 q8zcf q8zdc q8zef q8zf0 q8zg3
