| Cell wall-less Archaea 06/02/01 |
| SuperSet | Prokaryote, Archaea, Cell Wall-Less Archaeobacteria |
| Compare | |
| Contrast | Methanogens Cell Wall-Less Archaeobacteria Sulfate Reducing Archaeobacteria Halophilic Archaeobacteria Extremely Thermophilic Archaeobacteria |
| Subset | single genus Thermoplasma species T. acidophilum T. Volcanicum |
| Morphology | Cell wall-less Archaea |
| CELLULAR |
| Staining | stain negatively in the Gram reaction |
| Morphology | coccoid cell |
| Motility | may be motile and flagellated |
| Specialized structures | coccoid cells lacking a cell envelope. |
| Division |
| COLONIAL |
| Solid surface |
| Liquid |
| Growth Parameters | Cell wall-less Archaea |
| PHYSIOLOGICAL |
| Tropism | |
| Oxygen | facultative anaerobic |
| pH | Obligate acidophile |
| Temperature | Obligate thermophile grows at 33-67 oC |
| Requires | Require yeast extract for growth |
| Products | |
| Enzymes | |
| Unique features | Cytoplasmic membrane
contains a mannose rich glycoprotein and a lipoglycan.
RNA polymerase of the BAC type. Membrane contains ether lipids characteristic of archeobacteria |
| ENVIRONMENTAL |
| Habitat | self-heating coal piles and acidic solfatara fields |
| Lifestyle | |
| Pathogenicity |
| Distribution |
| Genome | Cell wall-less Archaea |
| G+C Mol % | T. Acidophilum
46 T. volacanicum 38 |
| Reference | Cell wall-less Archaea |
| First citation | |
| Emended | |
| The Prokaryotes | p |
| Bergey's Systematatic | p |
| Bergey's Determinative | p747 |
| References |