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Thermococcus marinus sp. nov. and Thermococcus radiotolerans sp. nov., two hyperthermophilic archaea from deep-sea hydrothermal vents that resist ionizing radiation

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Abstract

Enrichments for anaerobic, organotrophic hyperthermophiles were performed with hydrothermal chimney samples collected from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at a depth of 3,550 m (23°22′N, 44°57′W) and the Guaymas Basin (27°01′N, 111°24′W) at a depth of 2,616 m. Positive enrichments were submitted to γ-irradiation at doses of 20 and 30 kGy. Two hyperthermophilic, anaerobic, sulfur-metabolizing archaea were isolated. Strain EJ1T was isolated from chimney samples collected from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge after γ-irradiation at 20 kGy, and strain EJ2T was isolated from the Guaymas Basin after γ-irradiation at 30 kGy. Only strain EJ2T was motile, and both formed regular cocci. These new strains grew between 55 and 95 °C with the optimal temperature being 88 °C. The optimal pH for growth was 6.0, and the optimal NaCl concentration for growth was around 20 g l−1. These strains were obligate anaerobic heterotrophs that utilized yeast extract, tryptone, and peptone as a carbon source for growth. Ten amino acids were essential for the growth of strain EJ1T, such as arginine, aspartic acid, isoleucine, leucine, methionine, phenylalanine, proline, threonine, tyrosine, and valine, while strain EJ2T was unable to grow on a mixture of amino acids. Elemental sulfur or cystine was required for EJ2T growth and was reduced to hydrogen sulfide. Rifampicin inhibited growth for both strains EJ1T and EJ2T. The G+C contents of the genomic DNA were 52.3 and 54.5 mol% for EJ1T and EJ2T, respectively. As determined by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, these strains were more closely related to Thermococcus gorgonarius, T. celer, T. guaymasensis, T. profundus, and T. hydrothermalis. However, no significant homology was observed between them with DNA–DNA hybridization. These novel organisms also possess phenotypic traits that differ from those of its closest phylogenetic relatives. Therefore, it is proposed that these isolates, which are amongst the most radioresistant hyperthermophilic archaea known to date with T. gammatolerans (Jolivet et al. 2003a), should be described as novel species T. marinus sp. nov. and T. radiotolerans sp. nov. The type strain of T. marinus is strain EJ1T (=DSM 15227T=JCM 11825T) and the type strain of T. radiotolerans is strain EJ2T (=DSM 15228T=JCM 11826T).

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. Vincent Favaudon for the use of 137Cs-γ-ray source (Institut Curie, Orsay, France). We also thank Dr. F.A. Rainey, Dr. J.R. Battista, and A. Simmons for critical reading of the manuscript and for useful discussions (Louisiana State University A&M College, Baton Rouge, LA, USA). This work was supported by the grant “Contrat de plan Etat-Région Bretagne, opération Souchotèque de Bretagne”.

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  1. Edmond Jolivet

    Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University A&M College, 202 Life Sciences Building, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. UMR 6539, Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Technopôle Brest-Iroise, Place Nicolas Copernic, 29280 , Plouzané, France

    Edmond Jolivet, Stéphane L’Haridon & Daniel Prieur

  2. UMR 7127, Station Biologique de Roscoff, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Place Georges Teissier, 29682 , Roscoff Cedex, France

    Erwan Corre

  3. UMR 8621, Institut de Génétique et Microbiologie, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Université Paris-Sud, Bât 409, 91405 , Orsay Cedex, France

    Patrick Forterre

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Correspondence to Edmond Jolivet.

Additional information

Communicated by J. Wiegel

The GenBank accession numbers for the 16S rRNA sequence of Thermococcus marinus strain EJ1T and Thermococcus radiotolerans EJ2T are AF479012 and AF479013, respectively.

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Jolivet, E., Corre, E., L’Haridon, S. et al. Thermococcus marinus sp. nov. and Thermococcus radiotolerans sp. nov., two hyperthermophilic archaea from deep-sea hydrothermal vents that resist ionizing radiation. Extremophiles 8, 219–227 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-004-0380-9

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