Thermophilic Lifestyle for an Uncultured Archaeon from Hydrothermal Vents: Evidence from Environmental Genomics

Abstract

We present a comparative analysis of two genome fragments isolated from a diverse and widely distributed group of uncultured euryarchaea from deep-sea hydrothermal vents. The optimal activity and thermostability of a DNA polymerase predicted in one fragment were close to that of the thermophilic archaeon Thermoplasma acidophilum, providing evidence for a thermophilic way of life of this group of uncultured archaea.