Query: NC_015474:105075 Pyrococcus sp. NA2 chromosome, complete genome
Lineage: Pyrococcus; Pyrococcus; Thermococcaceae; Thermococcales; Euryarchaeota; Archaea
General Information: Pyrococcus has similar characteristics of other thermoautotrophican archaea such as Archaeoglobus, and Methanococcus in the respect that they are all thermophilic and anaerobic. Pyrococcus differs, however, because its optimal growth temperature is nearly 100 °C and dwells at a greater sea depth than the other archaea. Studying Pyrococcus helps give insight to possible mechanisms used to endure extreme environmental conditions like high temperatures and high pressure.
Subject: NC_005877:864118 Picrophilus torridus DSM 9790, complete genome
Lineage: Picrophilus torridus; Picrophilus; Picrophilaceae; Thermoplasmatales; Euryarchaeota; Archaea
General Information: This organism is a thermoacidophile, and can grow at temperatures around 60C and in environments where the pH drops to 0. The name reflects the area where the organism was isolated, which was a hot dry soil in Kawayu, in northern Japan, that was solfataric (volcanic area that gives off sulfur). The genome also encodes a large number of proton-driven secondary transporters which represents another adaptation to the acid environment. This organism expresses a surface layer (S-layer) that consists of a semicrystalline array of proteins outside the cell membrane.