Pyrococcus abyssi

{{Short description|Species of archaeon}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Nitrilase Active Site.png

| image_caption = Active site of a thermoactive nitrilase from Pyrococcus abyssi detailing the Cys-Glu-Lys catalytic triad.

| taxon = Pyrococcus abyssi

| authority = Erauso et al. 1993

}}

Pyrococcus abyssi is a hyperthermophilic archaeon isolated from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent in the North Fiji Basin at {{convert|2000|m|ft}}. It is anaerobic, sulfur-metabolizing, gram-negative, coccus-shaped and highly motile. Its optimum growth temperature is {{convert|96|C|F}}. Its type strain is GE5 (CNCM I-1302).{{cite journal|display-authors=4|last1=Erauso|first1=Gaël|last2=Reysenbach|first2=Anna-Louise|last3=Godfroy|first3=Anne|last4=Meunier|first4=Jean-Roch|last5=Crump|first5=Byron|last6=Partensky|first6=Frédéric|last7=Baross|first7=JohnA|last8=Marteinsson|first8=Viggo|last9=Barbier|first9=Georges|last10=Pace|first10=NormanR|last11=Prieur|first11=Daniel|title=Pyrococcus abyssi sp. nov., a new hyperthermophilic archaeon isolated from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent|journal=Archives of Microbiology|volume=160|issue=5|date=1993|issn=0302-8933|doi=10.1007/BF00252219|s2cid=6454891 }} Pyrococcus abyssi has been used as a model organism in studies of DNA polymerase.{{cite book|editor1=Zvi Kelman|editor2=Andrew F. Gardner|author1=Melissa Castillo-Lizardo|author2=Ghislaine Henneke|author3=Enrique Viguera|title=Replication slippage of the thermophilic DNA polymerases B and D from the Euryarchaeota Pyrococcus abyssi|pages=58|doi=10.3389/fmicb.2014.00403|pmid=25177316|pmc=4134008|journal=Frontiers in Microbiology|volume=5|date=2014-08-07|isbn=9782889194551|publisher=Frontiers Media SA|doi-access=free }} This species can also grow at high cell densities in bioreactors.{{cite book|editor1= Yves Le Gal|editor2= A. Muller-Feuga|author1=Anne Godfroy|author2=Niel Raven|author3=Richard Sharp|title=Marine Microorganisms for Industry|chapter=Continuous Culture of Pyrococcus abyssi strain ST549 in a gas-lift bioreactor|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9CnPuCmk0gkC&dq=%22Pyrococcus+abyssi%E2%80%8E%22&pg=PA179|page=179|date=1997-01-01|access-date=2016-09-15|publisher=Editions Quae|isbn=9782905434944}}