pyrolobus fumarii pyrolobus fumarii pyrolobus fumarii (latin for "firelobe of the chimney") is a species of archaea known for its to live and reproduce at extremely high temperatures that kill most organisms. p. fumarii is known as a hyperthermophile obligately chemolithoautotroph. in the simpliest terms this archaea grows best in warm tempeture ranging from 80°c to 115°c. it also uses preformed molecules as its energy source, inorganic as an electron donor, co2 is used as a carbon source. it was first discovered in 1997 in a black smoker hydrothermal vent at the mid-atlantic ridge, setting the upper temperature threshold for known life to exist at 113 °c (235.4 °f) with an optimal temperature of 106 °c, but more recently methanopyrus kandleri has been discovered which can survive temperatures up to 122 °c. (251.6 °f) the species "freezes" or solidifies and ceases growth at temperatures of 90 °c (194 °f) and below. strain 121, a microbe from the same family found at a vent in the pacific ocean, survived and multiplied during a 10-hour interval spent at 121 °c (249.8 °f) in an autoclave. pyrolobus fumarii scientific classification domain: archaea phylum: thermoproteota class: thermoprotei order: desulfurococcales family: pyrodictiaceae genus: pyrolobus binomial name pyrolobus fumariiblöch, rachel, burggraf, hafenbradl, jannasch & stetter, 1997 function pyrolobus fumarii function in a temperature range between 90°c and 113°c with their optimum temperature being around 106°c. they require a ph range around 4 - 6.5 which is relatively more acidic than neutral in order to grow. adding onto this for optimal growth and survival of the microbe 1% - 4% nacl is needed as well as a good source of co2. however high pressure is not a concern for growth. an important distinction to be made about this archaea is that it does not grow in media containing acetate, pyruvate, glucose, starch, and elementary sulfur. it's sol terminal electron acceptor being nitrate, no3- . for p. fumarii reduction of succinyl-coa, which is used in the process of generating energy in the cell, does not rely on nad(p)h but instead requires reduced methyl viologen. it is theroized that p. fumarii thermostability is due to accumulate unusual organic solutes. one of these solutes theorized to play a role is di-myo-inositol phosphate (dip) as it is associated with the heat stress response. electron microscope images of pyrolobus fumarii after epon embedding and freeze-substitution. structure scanning electron micrograph of pyrolobus fumarii p. fumarii structure contains an s-layer, commonly found in non-lab prokaryotic strains, stimulates a pore with a depression in the middle. they are described as regularly to irregularly shaped cocci meaning they are relatively round in shape and singular not chained. this archaea is gram-negative which can be seen as it has a polyethylene glycol (peg) layer sandwiched between to membranes, one being the outermost membrane. shape wise p. fumarri is cocci shaped meaning relatively wrong and singular bacterial cells. application understanding p. fumarii ability to withstand high temperatures and it's genome capabilities to be thermostable and heat-tolerant lead to many pharmaceutical, agricultural, and industrial applications. products that could use a thermostable microorganism include agricultural product processing enzymes, bioremediation applications, industrial and consumer product enzymes, and even pharmaceutical applications with where a highly thermostable organism is needed.