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Updated: Jul 4, 2026

Adaptation at the Extremes of Life: Experimental Evolution with the Extremophile Archaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius
Published on: June 14, 2024
Sulfolobales: Acidothermophilic archaea as models for biology and biotechnological applications
Pengju Wu1, Qi Gan1, Haodun Li1
1CRISPR and Archaea Biology Research Center, State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China.
Abstract:
Archaea of the order Sulfolobales are the earliest extremophiles discovered. They inhabit acidic terrestrial hot springs worldwide. Since their discovery, these microbes have attracted the attention of scientists studying molecular biology and microbial resources. Their evolutionary closeness to Asgard archaea and eukaryotes, the availability of genetic toolboxes for several species, and unique metabolic pathways make them ideal microbes for studying the biology of archaea and the origin of eukaryotic features, as well as platforms for synthetic biology and potential industrial applications, such as biomass degradation and bioleaching. This review summarizes recent advances in the study of Sulfolobales biology and discusses their biotechnological applications with a specific focus on biomass degradation using obligate heterotrophic Sulfolobales species.
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