Geoglobus Explained

Geoglobus is a hyperthermophilic member of the Archaeoglobaceae within the Euryarchaeota. It consists of two species, the first, G. ahangari, isolated from the Guaymas Basin hydrothermal system located deep within the Gulf of California. As a hyperthermophile, it grows best at a temperature of 88 °C and cannot grow at temperatures below 65 °C or above 90 °C. It possess an S-layer cell wall and a single flagellum. G. ahangari is an anaerobe, using poorly soluble ferric iron (Fe³⁺) as a terminal electron acceptor. It can grow either autotrophically using hydrogen gas (H₂) or heterotrophically using a large number of organic compounds, including several types of fatty acids, as energy sources. G. ahangari was the first archaeon isolated capable of using hydrogen gas coupled to iron reduction as an energy source and the first anaerobe isolated capable of using long-chain fatty acids as an energy source.

A second species was described as G. acetivorans, which also uses iron as its terminal electron acceptor.

See also

• List of Archaea genera

Further reading

Scientific journals

• Kashefi. K.. Shelobolina. E. S.. Elliott. W. C.. Lovley. D. R.. Growth of Thermophilic and Hyperthermophilic Fe(III)-Reducing Microorganisms on a Ferruginous Smectite as the Sole Electron Acceptor. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 2 November 2007. 74. 1. 251–258. 10.1128/AEM.01580-07. 17981937. 2223214.
• Kashefi K, Tor JM, Holmes DE, Gaw Van Praagh CV, Reysenbach AL, Lovley DR . 2002 . Geoglobus ahangari gen. nov., sp. nov., a novel hyperthermophilic archaeon capable of oxidizing organic acids and growing autotrophically on hydrogen with Fe(III) serving as the sole electron accepter . Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. . 52 . 719 - 728 . 12054231 . 10.1099/00207713-52-3-719 . Pt 3.
• Slobodkina. G.B.. Kolganova. T.V.. Querellou. J.. Bonch-Osmolovskaya. E.A.. Slobodkin. A.I.. Geoglobus acetivorans sp nov., an iron(III)-reducing archaeon from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. Nov 2009. 59. Part 11. 2380–2383. 10.1099/ijs.0.011080-0. 19628601.
• Manzella. Michael. Regura. Gemma. Kashefi. Kazem. Extracellular Electron Transfer to Fe(III) Oxides by the Hyperthermophilic Archaeon Geoglobus ahangari via a Direct Contact Mechanism. American Society for Microbiology. 31 May 2013. 79. 15. 4694–4700. 10.1128/AEM.01566-13. 3719510. 23728807. 2013ApEnM..79.4694M.

Scientific books

• Book: Huber H, Stetter KO . 2001 . Family I. Archaeoglobaceae fam. nov. Stetter 1989, 2216 . Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology Volume 1: The Archaea and the deeply branching and phototrophic Bacteria . 2nd . DR Boone . RW Castenholz . . New York . 978-0-387-98771-2 . registration .
• Book: Stetter, KO . 1989 . Group II. Archaeobacterial sulfate reducers. Order Archaeoglobales . Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, Volume 3 . 1st . JT Staley . MP Bryant . N Pfennig . JG Holt. The Williams & Wilkins Co. . Baltimore.