Biology:Meiothermus

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Meiothermus is a genus of Deinococcota bacteria.[1][2] Members of Meiothermus can be reliably distinguished from other genera in the family Thermaceae as well as all other bacteria by the presence of three conserved signature indels (CSIs) found in the proteins: 5-methyltetrahydrofolate–homocysteine methyltransferase, cadmium transporter and polynucleotide phosphorylase and are exclusively shared by species of this genus.[3] Meiothermus is also different than the Thermus genus, which it was originally a member of, in their optimum growth temperatures, with Meiothermus being able to grow in colder environments. Meiothermus was first isolated with Thermus in alkaline and neutral hot springs in Kamchatka, Russia and Yellowstone National Park, USA.

Characteristics

Meiothermus species of bacteria are gram-negative and are primarily chemoorganoheterotrophs, and some species can use nitrate as an electron acceptor.[4] The Meiothermus genus was originally proposed to group together several moderately thermophilic organisms that were in the Thermus genus. It was later differentiated and made its own genus. Meiothermus are mostly distinguishable from Thermus by the lower bound of their optimum growth temperatures, 50-60 °C for Meiothermus and 70 °C for Thermus. Also, in Meiothermus, the presence of two glycolipid bands is seen whereas Thermus species only contain one.[5] Thermus also contains eight conserved signature indels (CSIs) compared to the three that Meiothermus has. The optimal pH range for Meiothermus growth is in the range of 7.5–9.5.[6] Meiothermus is a genus of bacteria that can only exist in aerobic environments. Most Meiothermus species have a red pigmentation with the exception of M. chilarophilus which has a yellow color.[7] Some Meiothermus species can also form biofilms and stick to surfaces using specific adhesion organelles.[8]

Habitats

Meiothermus is a thermophilic genus of bacteria. Thermophiles are strains of bacteria that exist in environments that range from 45 °C to around 80 °C.[7] Meiothermus in particular is best suited to ranges of 50–60 °C.[5] Meiothermus is a strictly aerobic bacteria, needing oxygen for many of its processes.[9]

They also live inside the gut of some Antarctic polychaete worms (Leitoscoloplos geminus, Aphelochaeta palmeri, and Aglaophamus trissophyllus), where they make up a significant part of the worms' microbiome and produce antifreeze proteins that prevents ice formation within their cells and tissues.[10]

Metabolism

Some species of Meiothermus have the ability to break down keratin at much a rate much higher than natural rates. These keratinolytic processes performed by Meiothermus species like the common M. ruber lead to production of amino acids that can be used by the environment.[6] Meiothermus can use other organic substrates like starch, disaccharides, amino acids and others as a carbon and energy source.[4]

Phylogeny

See also: Biology:Bacterial taxonomy

The currently accepted taxonomy is based on the List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature (LPSN)[1] and National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).[2]

16S rRNA based LTP_07_2026[11][12][13] 120 marker proteins based GTDB 11-RS232[14][15][16]
Meiothermus
 

M. luteus Habib et al. 2017

 
 
 
 

M. rufus Albuquerque et al. 2010

 
 
 

M. granaticius Albuquerque et al. 2010

 
 

M. hypogaeus Mori et al. 2012

 
 
 
 
 
 

M. cerbereus Chung et al. 1997

 
 

M. ruber (Loginova et al. 1984) Nobre et al. 1996

 
 
 
 

M. cateniformans Zhang et al. 2010

 
 

M. taiwanensis Chen et al. 2002

 
 
 
 
 
Meiothermus
 

M. granaticius

 
 
 
 

M. luteus

 
 

M. rufus

 
 
 
 

M. hypogaeus

 
 
 

M. cerbereus

 
 
 

M. ruber

 
 

M. taiwanensis [incl. M. cateniformans]

 
 
 
 
 
 

Species incertae sedis:

  • "Meiothermus rosaceus" Chen et al. 2002

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Meiothermus in LPSN; Freese, H. M.; Meier-Kolthoff, J. P.; Sardà Carbasse, J.; Afolayan, A. O.; Göker, M. (29 October 2025). "TYGS and LPSN in 2025: a Global Core Biodata Resource for genome-based classification and nomenclature of prokaryotes within DSMZ Digital Diversity". Nucleic Acids Research 53: D1–D12. doi:10.1093/nar/gkaf1110. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Schoch CL. "Meiothermus". National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) taxonomy database. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?command=show&mode=tree&id=65551&lvl=3. Retrieved 2026-06-05. 
  3. ↑ Ho, Jonathan; Adeolu, Mobolaji; Khadka, Bijendra; Gupta, Radhey S. (October 2016). "Identification of distinctive molecular traits that are characteristic of the phylum "Deinococcus-Thermus" and distinguish its main constituent groups". Systematic and Applied Microbiology 39 (7): 453–463. doi:10.1016/j.syapm.2016.07.003. ISSN 0723-2020. PMID 27506333. Bibcode: 2016SyApM..39..453H. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.syapm.2016.07.003. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 da Costa, Milton S; Nobre, M Fernanda; Wait, Robin (2006-01-01) (in en), 6 Analysis of Lipids from Extremophilic Bacteria, Methods in Microbiology, 35, Academic Press, pp. 127–159, doi:10.1016/S0580-9517(08)70009-6, ISBN 9780125215374, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0580951708700096, retrieved 2022-11-10 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Ferreira, Ana Margarida; Wait, Robin; Nobre, M. Fernanda; Costa, Milton S. daYR 1999 (1999). "Characterization of glycolipids from Meiothermus spp.". Microbiology 145 (5): 1191–1199. doi:10.1099/13500872-145-5-1191. ISSN 1465-2080. PMID 10376835. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Matsui, Tatsunobu; Yamada, Yukie; Mitsuya, Hideki; Shigeri, Yasushi; Yoshida, Yasukazu; Saito, Yoshiro; Matsui, Hiroshi; Watanabe, Kunihiko (2009-04-01). "Sustainable and practical degradation of intact chicken feathers by cultivating a newly isolated thermophilic Meiothermus ruber H328" (in en). Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 82 (5): 941–950. doi:10.1007/s00253-009-1880-4. ISSN 1432-0614. PMID 19194700. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-009-1880-4. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Bergey, D. H. (July 1919). "Thermophilic Bacteria" (in en). Journal of Bacteriology 4 (4): 301–306. doi:10.1128/jb.4.4.301-306.1919. ISSN 0021-9193. PMID 16558843. 
  8. ↑ Raulio, Mari; Järn, Mikael; Ahola, Juhana; Peltonen, Jouko; Rosenholm, Jarl B.; Tervakangas, Sanna; Kolehmainen, Jukka; Ruokolainen, Timo et al. (July 2008). "Microbe repelling coated stainless steel analysed by field emission scanning electron microscopy and physicochemical methods". Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology 35 (7): 751–760. doi:10.1007/s10295-008-0343-8. ISSN 1367-5435. PMID 18379832. 
  9. ↑ Mark D. Spanevello, Bharat K.C. Patel, The phylogenetic diversity of Thermus and Meiothermus from microbial mats of an Australian subsurface aquifer runoff channel, FEMS Microbiology Ecology, Volume 50, Issue 1, October 2004, Pages 63–73, doi:10.1016/j.femsec.2004.05.008
  10. ↑ Resistance to freezing conditions of endemic Antarctic polychaetes is enhanced by cryoprotective proteins produced by their microbiome
  11. ↑ "The LTPlus". https://bioinfo.uib.es/ltp/#LTPlus. 
  12. ↑ "LTP_all tree in newick format". https://biocom.uib.es/opucheck-backend/api/releases/07_26_04. 
  13. ↑ Rossello-Mora, Ramon; Viver, Tomeu; Palmer-Rodríguez, Pere; Westram, Ralf; Bustos-Caparros, Esteban; Gago, Joan Francisco; Gonzalez-Mendez, Jaime; Llabrés, Mercè et al. (22 April 2026). "A pipeline for improved 16S rRNA gene-based phylogeny and diversity analyses of Bacteria and Archaea" (in en). Nature Portfolio. doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-9370187/v1. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9370187/v1. 
  14. ↑ "GTDB release 11-RS232". https://gtdb.ecogenomic.org/about#4%7C. 
  15. ↑ "bac120_r232.sp_label". https://data.gtdb.ecogenomic.org/releases/release232/232.0/auxillary_files/bac120_r232.sp_labels.tree. 
  16. ↑ "Taxon History". https://gtdb.ecogenomic.org/taxon_history/. 

Wikidata ☰ Q16985301 entry



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