title: Description of Thermococcus kodakaraensis sp. nov., a well studied hyperthermophilic archaeon previously reported as Pyrococcus sp. KOD1.
abstract: A hyperthermophilic archaeal strain, KOD1, isolated from a solfatara on Kodakara Island, Japan, has previously been reported as Pyrococcus sp. KOD1. However, a detailed phylogenetic tree, made possible by the recent accumulation of 16S rRNA sequences of various species in the order Thermococcales, indicated that strain KOD1 is a member of the genus Thermococcus. We performed DNA-DNA hybridization tests against species that displayed high similarity in terms of 16S ribosomal DNA sequences, including Thermococcus peptonophilus and Thermococcus stetteri. Hybridization results and differences in growth characteristics and substrate utilization differentiated strain KOD1 from T. peptonophilus and T. stetteri at the species level. Our results indicate that strain KOD1 represents a new species of Thermococcus, which we designate as Thermococcus kodakaraensis KOD1 sp. nov.
authors.affiliation: Department of Synthetic Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Katsura, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto 615-8510, Japan.
authors.forename: Haruyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Atomi
authors.forename: Toshiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fukui
authors.forename: Tamotsu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kanai
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morikawa
authors.forename: Tadayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Imanaka
mesh_terms: D001482:Base Composition; D019641:DNA, Archaeal / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D020459:Genes, rRNA; D007564:Japan; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D010802:Phylogeny; D019711:Pyrococcus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D019712:Thermococcus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D019641:DNA, Archaeal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S