title: Pyrococcus CH1, an obligate piezophilic hyperthermophile: extending the upper pressure-temperature limits for life.
abstract: A novel hydrothermal site was discovered in March 2007, on the mid-Atlantic ridge during the cruise 'Serpentine'. At a depth of 4100 m, the site 'Ashadze' is the deepest vent field known so far. Smoker samples were collected with the ROV 'Victor 6000' and processed in the laboratory for the enrichment of anaerobic heterotrophic microorganisms under high-temperature and high-hydrostatic pressure conditions. Strain CH1 was successfully isolated and assigned to the genus Pyrococcus, within the Euryarchaeota lineage within the Archaea domain. This organism grows within a temperature range of 80 to 108 degrees C and a pressure range of 20 to 120 MPa, with optima for 98 degrees C and 52 MPa respectively. Pyrococcus CH1 represents the first obligate piezophilic hyperthermophilic microorganism known so far. Comparisons of growth yields obtained under high-temperature/high-pressure conditions for relative organisms isolated from various depths, showed clear relationships between depth at origin and responses to hydrostatic pressure.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Microbiologie des Environnements Extrêmes, CNRS, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Ifremer, IUEM, Technopole Brest-Iroise, Plouzané, France.
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Jean-Louis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Birrien
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fouquet
authors.forename: Georgy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cherkashov
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jebbar
authors.forename: Joël
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Querellou
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Oger
authors.forename: Marie-Anne
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Cambon-Bonavita
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Prieur
mesh_terms: D001267:Atlantic Ocean; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D019641:DNA, Archaeal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D020459:Genes, rRNA; D045482:Hot Springs; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006874:Hydrostatic Pressure; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D019711:Pyrococcus / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology; D019642:RNA, Archaeal / Q000235:genetics; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
chemical_list: D019641:DNA, Archaeal; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D019642:RNA, Archaeal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S