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Thermotogae

Thermotogae
Scientific classification
Domain: Bacteria
Phylum: Thermotogae Reysenbach 2002 emend. Bhandari & Gupta 2014
Class: Thermotogae Reysenbach 2002 emend. Bhandari & Gupta 2014
Order
Synonyms
  • Togobacteria Cavalier-Smith 2002
  • Thermotogaeota Oren et al. 2015

The Thermotogae are a phylum of the domain Bacteria. The phylum Thermotogae is composed of Gram-negative staining, anaerobic, and mostly thermophilic and hyperthermophilic bacteria.

The name of this phylum is derived from the existence of many of these organisms at high temperatures along with the characteristic sheath structure, or "toga", surrounding the cells of these species. Recently, some Thermotogae existing at moderate temperatures have also been identified. Although Thermotogae species exhibit Gram-negative staining, they are bounded by a single-unit lipid membrane, hence they are monoderm bacteria. Because of the ability of some Thermotogae species to thrive at high temperatures, they are considered attractive targets for use in industrial processes. The metabolic ability of Thermotogae to utilize different complex-carbohydrates for production of hydrogen gas led to these species being cited as a possible biotechnological source for production of energy alternative to fossil fuels.

This phylum presently consists of a single class (Thermotogae), four orders (Thermotogales, Kosmotogales, Petrotogales, and Mesoaciditogales) and five families (Thermatogaceae, Fervidobacteriaceae, Kosmotogaceae, Petrotogaceae, and Mesoaciditogaceae). It contains a total of 15 genera and 52 species. In the 16S rRNA trees, the Thermotogae have been observed to branch with the Aquificae (another phylum comprising hyperthermophilic organisms) in close proximity to the archaeal-bacterial branch point. However, a close relationship of the Thermotogae to the Aquificae, and the deep branching of the latter group of species, is not supported by phylogenetic studies based upon other gene/protein sequences. and also by conserved signature indels in several highly conserved universal proteins. The Thermotogae have also been scrutinized for their supposedly profuse Lateral gene transfer with Archaeal organisms. However, recent studies based upon more robust methodologies suggest that incidence of LGT between Thermotogae and other groups including Archaea is not as high as suggested in earlier studies.


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