Project description:Pseudothermotoga elfii strain DSM9442 and P. elfii subsp. lettingae strain TMOT are hyperthermophilic bacteria. P. elfii is a moderate piezophile, isolated from an oil-producing well in Africa at a depth of more than 1600 m. P. lettingae is piezotolerant, isolated from a thermophilic bioreactor fed with methanol as the sole carbon and energy source. In this study, we analysed these bacteria at the genomic and transcriptomic levels. According to the hydrostatic pressure growth conditions the transcriptomic analyses revealed differentially expressed genes emphasizing amino acid and sugars metabolism and transport as the major hydrostatic pressure responding processes. Notably, this work highlights the central role of the amino acid aspartate as key intermediate of the pressure adaptation mechanisms of the deep strain P. elfii DSM 9442. In addition, several differentially expressed genes involved in the membrane and cell wall biosynthesis pathways may be linked to the chain formation morphotype previously described at high pressure for strain P. elfii DSM9442.
