''Thermus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

thermophilic A thermophile is a type of extremophile that thrives at relatively high temperatures, between . Many thermophiles are archaea, though some of them are bacteria and fungi. Thermophilic eubacteria are suggested to have been among the earliest bact ...

bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...

. It is one of several bacteria belonging to the ''

Deinococcota Deinococcota (synonym, Deinococcus-Thermus) is a phylum of bacteria with a single class, ''Deinococci'', that are highly resistant to environmental hazards, also known as extremophiles. These bacteria have thick cell walls that give them gram-po ...

'' phylum. According to comparative analysis of

16S rRNA 16S ribosomal RNA (or 16Svedberg, S rRNA) is the RNA component of the 30S subunit of a prokaryotic ribosome (SSU rRNA). It binds to the Shine-Dalgarno sequence and provides most of the SSU structure. The genes coding for it are referred to as ...

, this is one of the most ancient group of bacteria. ''Thermus'' species can be distinguished from other genera in the family ''Thermaceae'' as well as all other bacteria by the presence of eight

conserved signature indels Conserved signature inserts and deletions (CSIs) in protein sequences provide an important category of molecular markers for understanding phylogenetic relationships. CSIs, brought about by rare genetic changes, provide useful phylogenetic markers ...

found in proteins such as

adenylate kinase Adenylate kinase ( ECbr>2.7.4.3 (also known as ADK or myokinase) is a phosphotransferase enzyme that catalyzes the interconversion of the various adenosine phosphates (ATP, ADP, and AMP). By constantly monitoring phosphate nucleotide levels insid ...

and replicative DNA helicase as well as 14 conserved signature proteins that are exclusively shared by members of this genus.

Phylogeny

The currently accepted taxonomy is based on the

List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature (LPSN) is an online database that maintains information on the naming and taxonomy of prokaryotes, following the taxonomy requirements and rulings of the International Code of Nomenclatu ...

(LPSN) and the

National Center for Biotechnology Information The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) is part of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), a branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It is approved and funded by the government of the United States. The NCBI is lo ...

(NCBI). Between all its species, '' T. thermophilus'' has a special importance as a model organism for basic and applied research. Species incertae sedis: * "''T. anatoliensis''" Kacagan et al. 2016 * "''T. caldophilus''" Taguchi et al. 1983 * "''T. eggertssonii''" Peters 2008 * "''T. murrieta''" Benner et al. 2006 * "''T. nonproteolyticus''" 1992 * "''T. rehai''" Lin et al. 2002 * "''T. yunnanensis''" Gong et al. 2005

Habitats

The strains of the genus ''Thermus'' are generally isolated from hydrothermal areas where the range of water temperature is 55–70 °C and that of pH is 5.0–10.5. The first isolate of the genus Thermus was isolated from hydrothermal areas in Yellowstone National Park. Later on more isolates were obtained from several hydrothermal areas worldwide, such as in Japan, Iceland, New Zealand, New Mexico or the Australian Artesian Basin.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7783265 Deinococcota Thermophiles Thermozoa Organisms living on hydrothermal vents Bacteria genera

Phylogeny

Habitats

See also

References