Ferroplasma

File:41598 2017 3904 Fig1.webp map of Ferroplasma acidiphilum Y^T (aka DSM:12658)]]

File:41598 2017 3904 Fig2.webp locus in F. acidiphilum Y^T with one operon encoding the CRISPR-associated (Cas) proteins (red arrows).]]

Ferroplasma cells are pleomorphic and lack a cell-wall. All known members of the genera are acidophiles that thrive in environments where pH ranges from 0.0 to 2.0. They are also mesophilic to moderately thermophilic with optimal temperatures ranging from 35-55 °C.

Tetraether-based lipids are an important part of the Ferroplasma cellular membrane and allow cells to maintain a pH gradient. A study of F. acidarmanus found that cytoplasmic pH was maintained ~5.6 while the environmental pH ranged from ~0-1.2.{{cite journal | vauthors = Macalady JL, Vestling MM, Baumler D, Boekelheide N, Kaspar CW, Banfield JF | title = Tetraether-linked membrane monolayers in Ferroplasma spp: a key to survival in acid | journal = Extremophiles | volume = 8 | issue = 5 | pages = 411–9 | date = October 2004 | pmid = 15258835 | doi = 10.1007/s00792-004-0404-5 | s2cid = 15702103 }} Variations in the tetraether lipids of the family Ferroplasmaceae are used for chemotaxonomic identification at the genus and species level because many members possess identical 16S rRNA sequences.

Members of the genus Ferroplasma are chemomixotrophs that can oxidize ferrous iron to acquire energy, but despite evidence of carbon fixation, lab cultures often require an organic carbon source such as yeast extract for growth. In the absence of iron, some lab-grown strains have been capable of chemoorganotrophic growth.

Iron is the fourth most abundant mineral in Earth's crust. As iron-oxidizers Ferroplasma sp. participate in the biogeochemistry of iron. Ferroplasma sp. are often identified at acid mine drainage (AMD) sites. When ferrous iron (Fe²⁺) is oxidized to ferric iron (Fe³⁺) at mine sites, Fe³⁺ spontaneously reacts with water and iron-sulfur compounds like pyrite to produce sulfate and hydrogen ions.{{Cite book|last1=Madigan|first1=Michael T. |last2=Martinko|first2=John M. |last3=Bender|first3=Kelly S.|last4=Buckley|first4=Daniel H.|last5=Stahl|first5=David A. | name-list-style = vanc |title=Brock Biology of Microorganisms |publisher=Pearson|year=2015|isbn=978-0-321-89739-8|location=United States of America|pages=652–653}} During this reaction ferrous iron, which can be utilized by Ferroplasma, is also regenerated leading to a "propagation cycle" where pH is lowered. The reaction can be described by the following equation:

:{{chem2 | FeS2 + 14 Fe(3+) + 8 H2O-> 15 Fe(2+) + 2 SO4(2-) + 16 H+ }}

Ferroplasma species are often present at AMD sites where they participate in this cycle through the biotic oxidation of ferrous iron.

Ferroplasma sp. may have important applications for bioleaching metals. Microbial bioleaching occurs naturally in the highly acidic environments that are home to Ferroplasma sp. Harnessing the power of bioleaching to recover metal from low quality ores and waste material is energetically advantageous compared to smelting and purifying.{{cite journal | vauthors = Rohwerder T, Gehrke T, Kinzler K, Sand W | title = Bioleaching review part A: progress in bioleaching: fundamentals and mechanisms of bacterial metal sulfide oxidation | journal = Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology | volume = 63 | issue = 3 | pages = 239–48 | date = December 2003 | pmid = 14566432 | doi = 10.1007/s00253-003-1448-7 | s2cid = 25547087 }}{{cite journal | vauthors = Olson GJ, Brierley JA, Brierley CL | title = Bioleaching review part B: progress in bioleaching: applications of microbial processes by the minerals industries | journal = Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology | volume = 63 | issue = 3 | pages = 249–57 | date = December 2003 | pmid = 14566430 | doi = 10.1007/s00253-003-1404-6 | s2cid = 24078490 }} It also produces fewer toxic byproducts. Studies have shown that the inclusion of Ferroplasma thermophilum along with the bacteria Acidithiobacillus caldus and Leptospirillum ferriphilum can bioaugment the leaching process of chalcopyrite and increase the rate at which copper is recovered.{{Cite journal| vauthors = Zhang L, Wu J, Wang Y, Wan L, Mao F, Zhang W, Chen X, Zhou H |date=May 2014|title=Influence of bioaugmentation with Ferroplasma thermophilum on chalcopyrite bioleaching and microbial community structure |journal=Hydrometallurgy|language=en|volume=146|pages=15–23|doi=10.1016/j.hydromet.2014.02.013|doi-access=free}}

Ferroplasma acidiphilum has been shown to grow as a chemomixotroph and to grow synergistically with the acidophilic bacteria Leptospirillum ferriphilum.{{cite journal | vauthors = Merino MP, Andrews BA, Parada P, Asenjo JA | title = Characterization of Ferroplasma acidiphilum growing in pure and mixed culture with Leptospirillum ferriphilum | journal = Biotechnology Progress | volume = 32 | issue = 6 | pages = 1390–1396 | date = November 2016 | pmid = 27535541 | doi = 10.1002/btpr.2340 | s2cid = 2765684 }} The strain Ferroplasma acidiphilum Y^T is a facultative anaerobe with all the required genes for arginine fermentation.{{cite journal | vauthors = Golyshina OV, Tran H, Reva ON, Lemak S, Yakunin AF, Goesmann A, Nechitaylo TY, LaCono V, Smedile F, Slesarev A, Rojo D, Barbas C, Ferrer M, Yakimov MM, Golyshin PN | display-authors = 6 | title = T | journal = Scientific Reports | volume = 7 | issue = 1 | pages = 3682 | date = June 2017 | pmid = 28623373 | pmc = 5473848 | doi = 10.1038/s41598-017-03904-5 }} Although it is unclear whether Ferroplasma acidiphilum Y^T uses its arginine fermentation pathway, the pathway itself is an ancient metabolism that traces back to the last universal common ancestor (LUCA) of the three domains of life.{{cite journal | vauthors = Zúñiga M, Pérez G, González-Candelas F | title = Evolution of arginine deiminase (ADI) pathway genes | journal = Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume = 25 | issue = 3 | pages = 429–44 | date = December 2002 | pmid = 12450748 | doi = 10.1016/S1055-7903(02)00277-4 }}

Ferroplasma acidarmanus Fer1 was isolated from mine samples collected at Iron Mountain, California.{{cite journal | vauthors = Baker-Austin C, Dopson M, Wexler M, Sawers RG, Bond PL | title = Molecular insight into extreme copper resistance in the extremophilic archaeon 'Ferroplasma acidarmanus' Fer1 | journal = Microbiology | volume = 151 | issue = Pt 8 | pages = 2637–2646 | date = August 2005 | pmid = 16079342 | doi = 10.1099/mic.0.28076-0 | doi-access = free }} Iron Mountain (CA) is a former mine that is known for its acid mine drainage (AMD) and heavy metal contamination. In addition to being acidophilic, F. acidarmanus Fer1 is highly resistant to both copper and arsenic.{{cite journal | vauthors = Baker-Austin C, Dopson M, Wexler M, Sawers RG, Stemmler A, Rosen BP, Bond PL | title = Extreme arsenic resistance by the acidophilic archaeon 'Ferroplasma acidarmanus' Fer1 | journal = Extremophiles | volume = 11 | issue = 3 | pages = 425–34 | date = May 2007 | pmid = 17268768 | doi = 10.1007/s00792-006-0052-z | s2cid = 12982793 }}

In 2006 Ferroplasma cupricumulans was isolated from leachate solution collected from the Myanmar Ivanhoe Copper company (MICCL) mining site in Myanmar. It was noted to be the first slightly thermophilic member of the genus Ferroplasma. However, in 2009 a new genus of acidophilic, thermophilic archaea, Acidiplasma, was identified. It was proposed that, based on 16S rRNA similarity and DNA-DNA hybridization, be transferred to the genus Acidiplasma and renamed Acidiplasma cupricumulans.{{cite journal | vauthors = Golyshina OV, Yakimov MM, Lünsdorf H, Ferrer M, Nimtz M, Timmis KN, Wray V, Tindall BJ, Golyshin PN | display-authors = 6 | title = Acidiplasma aeolicum gen. nov., sp. nov., a euryarchaeon of the family Ferroplasmaceae isolated from a hydrothermal pool, and transfer of Ferroplasma cupricumulans to Acidiplasma cupricumulans comb. nov | journal = International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology | volume = 59 | issue = Pt 11 | pages = 2815–23 | date = November 2009 | pmid = 19628615 | doi = 10.1099/ijs.0.009639-0 | doi-access = free | hdl = 10033/90258 | hdl-access = free }}

In 2008, Zhou, et al. described the isolation of the organism Ferroplasma thermophilum L1^T from a chalcopyrite column reactor that was inoculated with acid mine drainage (AMD) from the Daye copper mine in China’s Hubei province. In aerobic conditions with low concentrations of yeast extract F. thermophilum grows by oxidizing ferrous iron. However, in anaerobic conditions F. thermophilum reduces ferric iron and sulfate. This makes F. thermophilum ecologically important for iron and sulfur cycling at pyrite-rich mine sites.

• List of Archaea genera

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• {{cite journal | vauthors = Grigor'eva NV, Tsaplina IA, Paniushkina AE, Kondrat'eva TF | title = [Optimization of bioleaching and oxidation of gold-bearing pyrite-arsnopyrite ore concentrate in batch mode] | journal = Mikrobiologiia | volume = 83 | issue = 5 | pages = 565–74 | date = 25 September 2014 | pmid = 25844468 | doi = 10.1134/S0026261714040043 | s2cid = 14429161 }}
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• {{cite journal | vauthors = Gihring TM, Bond PL, Peters SC, Banfield JF | title = Arsenic resistance in the archaeon "Ferroplasma acidarmanus": new insights into the structure and evolution of the ars genes | journal = Extremophiles | volume = 7 | issue = 2 | pages = 123–30 | date = April 2003 | pmid = 12664264 | doi = 10.1007/s00792-002-0303-6 | url = https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/42444/1/s00792-002-0303-6.pdf | publisher = Springer-Verlag | hdl = 2027.42/42444 | s2cid = 16997297 | hdl-access = free }}
• {{cite journal | vauthors = Eppley JM, Tyson GW, Getz WM, Banfield JF | title = Genetic exchange across a species boundary in the archaeal genus ferroplasma | journal = Genetics | volume = 177 | issue = 1 | pages = 407–16 | date = September 2007 | pmid = 17603112 | pmc = 2013692 | doi = 10.1534/genetics.107.072892 }}
• {{cite journal | vauthors = Golyshina OV, Pivovarova TA, Karavaiko GI, Kondratéva TF, Moore ER, Abraham WR, Lünsdorf H, Timmis KN, Yakimov MM, Golyshin PN | display-authors = 6 | title = Ferroplasma acidiphilum gen. nov., sp. nov., an acidophilic, autotrophic, ferrous-iron-oxidizing, cell-wall-lacking, mesophilic member of the Ferroplasmaceae fam. nov., comprising a distinct lineage of the Archaea | journal = International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology | volume = 50 Pt 3 | issue = 3 | pages = 997–1006 | date = May 2000 | pmid = 10843038 | doi = 10.1099/00207713-50-3-997 | doi-access = free }}
• {{ cite book | vauthors = Madigan MT, Martinko JM | title=Brock Biology of Microorganisms | edition = 11th | publisher=Pearson Prentice Hall | date=2005 }}

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Category:Archaea genera

Category:Metallotolerants

Category:Acidophiles

Category:Euryarchaeota