Is Thermoproteus Tenax an Autotroph or Heterotroph?

What is an example of a Thermoproteus?

An example of a Thermoproteus is Thermoproteus uzonensis.

This species is a very small animal, about 1 millimeter (0.04 inches) long, and is found in the Uzon Caldera, in Kamchatka. It lives in a very hot environment of about 300 degrees Celsius (570 degrees Fahrenheit). Thermoproteus species are among the most thermophilic organisms known.

Thermoproteus species are very similar to another type of extreme life form, called Archaea. They are archaea, and they live in the same temperature and high-salt environments. Archaea are found in the ocean, but these Thermoproteus species are found in volcanic hot springs.

In the case of Thermoproteus, they live in small microcolonies on hot minerals. The other archaea live in large colonies that can cover the entire surface of rocks. Thermoproteus species have very similar cell structures to other archaea species, but they lack the cell walls.

What domain does thermoproteus tenax belong to?

(2)

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Is Thermoproteus Tenax an Autotroph or Heterotroph?

(An Oxygen Autotrophic Isopod)

(This is the second of two parts. The first part is in Part 1, Volume 14, Issue 2. David O'Dell.]

Is Thermoproteus tenax an autotroph or a heterotroph? was the key question of the 1960s.1 For starters, let's think about the term 'autotrophy'. According to its definition given on the Wikipedia page: an autotroph is an organism that derives its metabolic energy and carbon from inorganic chemical compounds via the process of photosynthesis, chemosynthesis, thermogenesis, fermentation or respiration.2 One of the major assumptions being made here is that, since all organisms are capable of acquiring their energy via one of the pathways listed above, these other pathways cannot be used. It also seems to implicitly assume that the only possible path for obtaining energy is from some kind of chemical reduction process. Another common assumption is that organisms which possess the chemical pathways listed above can be assumed to do so to a greater or lesser degree.3

But as the article goes on to state, the question has now become more complex since the discovery of two new forms of lifebacterial and archaeal. The latter case includes organisms like Thermoplasma that may possess pathways that utilize elements other than carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and oxygen. Since bacteria have recently been proven to be capable of acquiring their energy through fermentative pathways, this is where the focus of this particular paper will be.

Fermentative Pathways. The Wikipedia article on fermentation describes the general theory behind this metabolic pathway:4. Fermentation is a form of respiration that allows cells to take up organic materials, and uses them to produce the simple cellular compounds of ATP, NADH, NADPH, lactate, acetate, and ethanol/diacetyl. The main substrates for this pathway are: sugars, such as glucose and sucrose, and amino acids. However, other substrates can also be fermented, including carbon dioxide, ammonium and sulphate. The pathway involves multiple enzymes and a number of intermediate compounds. These intermediates can be converted back into sugar by glycolysis, which is the reverse of fermentation.