Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans
Encyclopedia
Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans is an extremely thermophilic anaerobic
Gram-positive
bacterium that has the interesting property of producing hydrogen
as a waste product while feeding on carbon monoxide
and water.
It was isolated from a hot spring on the Russian volcanic island of Kunashir by Svetlichny et al. in 1991. Its complete genome was sequenced in 2005 by a team of scientists of the Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR).
According to TIGR evolutionary biologist Jonathan Eisen
, "C. hydrogenoformans is one of the fastest-growing microbes that can convert water and carbon monoxide to hydrogen." The microbe owes this to the fact that it has at least five different forms of carbon monoxide dehydrogenase.
Anaerobic organism
An anaerobic organism or anaerobe is any organism that does not require oxygen for growth. It could possibly react negatively and may even die if oxygen is present...
Gram-positive
Gram-positive
Gram-positive bacteria are those that are stained dark blue or violet by Gram staining. This is in contrast to Gram-negative bacteria, which cannot retain the crystal violet stain, instead taking up the counterstain and appearing red or pink...
bacterium that has the interesting property of producing hydrogen
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
as a waste product while feeding on carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide , also called carbonous oxide, is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas that is slightly lighter than air. It is highly toxic to humans and animals in higher quantities, although it is also produced in normal animal metabolism in low quantities, and is thought to have some normal...
and water.
It was isolated from a hot spring on the Russian volcanic island of Kunashir by Svetlichny et al. in 1991. Its complete genome was sequenced in 2005 by a team of scientists of the Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR).
According to TIGR evolutionary biologist Jonathan Eisen
Jonathan Eisen
Jonathan A. Eisen is an American evolutionary biologist, currently working at University of California, Davis. His academic research is in the fields of evolutionary biology, genomics and microbiology and he is the academic editor-in-chief of the open-access journal PLoS Biology.In 2011 Eisen was...
, "C. hydrogenoformans is one of the fastest-growing microbes that can convert water and carbon monoxide to hydrogen." The microbe owes this to the fact that it has at least five different forms of carbon monoxide dehydrogenase.
External links
- Life in Hot Carbon Monoxide: The Complete Genome Sequence of Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans Z-2901
- Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans at PubMed
- Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans at dsmz.de
- V.A. Svetlichny, T.G. Sokolova, M. Gerhardt, M. Ringpfeil, N.A. Kostrikina and G.A. Zavarzin http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T1G-3P178KG-3XY&_user=3914355&_coverDate=01%2F01%2F1900&_fmt=summary&_orig=search&_qd=1&_cdi=4890&view=c&_acct=C000051263&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=3914355&md5=ce00d758badb0f69940dd52bc392434e&ref=fullCarboxydothermus hydrogenoformans gen. nov., sp. nov., a CO-utilizing thermophilic anaerobic bacterium from hydrothermal environments of Kunashir Island.] Syst. Appl. Microbiol. 14 (1991), pp. 254–260.