Where is Thermoplasma found?

What are some interesting facts about Thermoplasma?

Thermoplasma is a genus of archaea, with the species Thermoplasma volcanium.

Found in volcanoes around the world, it is related to extremophiles such as Halobacteria, Methylococcus and Methanosarcina.

Can you explain what Thermoplasma does? Thermoplasma are able to survive in temperatures from 200C up to 600C, but not under pressure. The reason for this is that these archaeal cells produce a thick protein coat (the case) which protects them from external stressors. The case consists of polysaccharides and glycoproteins that are linked together by phosphates. These two compounds are responsible for the strength of the cell.

What benefits do Thermoplasma produce? Thermoplasma, similar to other archaea, produce hydrogen gas from organic material. In some bacteria, hydrogen is just byproduct of metabolic processes, and can cause oxygen depletion in the environment.

However, in Archaea, hydrogen is the main way in which the cells utilize energy. It makes up for ATP used in reactions, which creates adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Since ATP is involved in biosynthesis processes within the cell, they are needed in abundant amounts.

By utilizing hydrogen and releasing carbon dioxide, Thermoplasma can create a positive growth cycle for itself, producing large amounts of energy. In extreme environments such as volcanic sites, Thermoplasma is the primary producer of biomass in an oxygen deficient environment. Are there any interesting facts about Thermoplasma? If you live somewhere in the mountains, your environment is full of Hydrogen sulfide and Methane. Sulfur reacts with oxygen, creating high-energy sulfur and S2 - all you need for Thermoplasma to produce hydrogen.

Methane is made up of two parts hydrogen and one part carbon. Hydrogen is a smaller molecule that can hold less oxygen, while a methane molecule carries the same amount of oxygen as a Hydrogen molecule.

Thermoplasma has four different methods of converting this fuel. Their favorite method is called the reductive process, where hydrogen is converted into electrons.

It is the most common method, and usually requires some sort of catalyst. What conditions do Thermoplasma need to live in?

Where is Thermoplasma found?

The genus Thermoplasma is found in hot springs in the United States (Arizona, Alaska, California, Nevada, New Mexico and Washington), Russia, Germany, Switzerland, Japan and South Africa. It is also a well-known genus of free-living or parasitic archaea. The type species, Thermoplasma acidophilum, is widely distributed in several hydrothermal environments (sulfide, black smoker, and submarine hot-springs) and is known to thrive in very alkaline conditions (pH > 10) as well as at temperatures over 120C. Like other Archaea, Thermoplasma cells have a two-layered membrane structure with an outer lipoprotein membrane and an inner peptidoglycan wall. The peptidoglycan is composed of cross-linked N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetylmuramic acid. Like other Archaea, Thermoplasma cells lack de novo RNA polymerase (encoded by the polC gene). This enzyme is responsible for the de novo synthesis of RNA (and not DNA), which is needed to make proteins that are used to repair DNA, thereby allowing the cell to reproduce.

Thermoplasma is anaerobic, mesophilic Archaeon with a pH optimum around 7.2 and a temperature optimum at 75C. They grow by fermentation. The best substrates are carbohydrates (especially glucose and fructose) and amino acids. Thermoplasma has been shown to have a gliding motility.

Diversity of this genus is based on molecular phylogeny and cell morphology. These characteristics allowed them to be distinguished from other Archaea.

Discovery. In 1970, while searching for Archaea in hot springs in Yellowstone National Park, Robert Wolfe and his colleagues described a thermophilic Archaeon, naming it Thermoplasma. The genus Thermoplasma was separated from Euryarchaea by H. Stackebrandt et al. In 1991.

The first complete genome of Thermoplasma was reported in 2025.

What is the morphology of Thermoplasma?

The morphology of Thermoplasma resembles that of the Archaea.

The cell membrane consists of a cytoplasmic and a lipidic layer. A polar granule and some intracellular organelles are present in the cytoplasm. There is no external membrane, but the cell wall is composed of a glycolipid layer and a glycoprotein layer. No flagellum or any other appendage has been observed. The shape of the cells of Thermoplasma differs from the shape of cells of Methanobacterium: Thermoplasma cells are rod shaped, while Methanobacterium cells are coccoid shaped. Thermoplasma cells are only about 0.6 m in diameter and 10 m long, while the cell of Methanobacterium has a diameter of 1 m and a length of 1-2 m. The cell of Thermoplasma has a volume of about 1.6 1012 m3, and the cell of Methanobacterium has a volume of about 6.4 1013 m3. The main difference between the cells of Thermoplasma and Methanobacterium is the presence of a lipid layer surrounding the cytoplasmic layer in Thermoplasma, but not in Methanobacterium.

The two species of Thermoplasma differ from each other in the composition of their cell walls. In the cell of Thermoplasma, there is an outer glycolipid layer, an inner glycoprotein layer, and a lipid layer surrounding the cytoplasm. The composition of these layers varies between the two species of Thermoplasma. In Thermoplasma acidophilus (T. Acidophilum), the lipid layer consists of lipids having a chain length of at least 30 carbon atoms. The composition of the glycoprotein layer is unknown. In Thermoplasma ignotum (T. Ignotum), the glycoprotein layer is composed of proteins having a molecular weight of at least 300 kDa. The lipid layer consists of phosphatidylglycerol. There are four kinds of phosphatidylglycerol molecules: one containing palmitic acid, one containing myristic acid, one containing stearic acid, and one containing arachidic acid.