Thermococcus barophilus MP

Thermococcus barophilus (strain DSM 11836 / MP) is an anaerobic, hyperthermophilic, mixed heterotrophic, and carboxydotrophic euryarchaeon isolated from the deep sea hydrothermal vent Snakepit site on the mid-Atlantic ridge at a depth of 3,550 m. T. barophilus is the first true piezophilic, hyperthermophilic archaeon isolated, having an optimal growth at 40 MPa. It grows from 48 degrees Celsius to 100 degrees Celsius with an optimum at 85 degrees Celsius and within a pressure range of 0.1 to 85 MPa with an optimum of 40 MPa. T. barophilus possesses the carboxydotrophic pathway, which allows it to obtain energy and carbon from the oxidation of CO, and bears seven different hydrogenase complexes. The T. barophilus specific gene set, which bears little homology to proteins in the database, may provide clues to its adaptation to growth under the high-pressure conditions which are typical of the deep biosphere. (Adapted from PMID: 21217005). (HAMAP: THEBM)