Sulfurisphaera is a genus of the Sulfolobaceae.
Description and significance Sulfurisphaera is a facultatively anaerobic, thermophilic, Gram-negative archaeon that occurs in acidic solfataric fields. The organism grows under the temperature range of 63–92 °C with the optimum temperature at 84 °C, and under the pH range of 1.0–5.0, with an optimum of pH 2.0. It forms colonies that are smooth, roundly convex, and slightly yellow.
Taxonomy The currently accepted taxonomy is based on the List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature (LPSN) and National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).
16S rRNA based LTP_07_2026 53 marker proteins based GTDB 11-RS232
Genome structure The genome of Sulfurisphaera is yet to be sequenced. The G + C content is estimated to be 30–33%.
Cell structure and metabolism The spherical cells of Sulfurisphaera ohwakuensis are 1.2–1.5 μm in diameter. Thin sections of the organism reveal an envelope (approx. 24 nm) surrounding the cell membrane. It grows organotrophically on proteinaceous, complex substrates such as yeast extract, peptone, and tryptone. Growth was not observed on single sugars or amino acids such as D-glucose, D-galactose, D-fructose, D-xylose, lactose, maltose, sucrose, alanine, glutamate, glycine, and histidine.
Ecology The strains of Sulfurisphaera ohwakuensis were isolated from multiple locations in the acidic hot springs in Ohwaku Valley, Hakone, Japan.
See also List of Archaea genera
References
Further reading Scientific journals
Scientific books
External links Sulfurisphaera at BacDive - the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase