science

Meiothermus timidus

Meiothermus timidus is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Meiothermus timidus rather than just read about it. In short: Meiothermus timidus is a species of yellow-pigmented Deinococcota bacteria. It was first isolated from the hot spring at São Pedro do Sul, in central Portugal, and at the island of Sao Miguel in the Azores.

Key takeaways

Meiothermus timidus belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Meiothermus timidus to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Meiothermus timidus from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Meiothermus timidus is a species of yellow-pigmented Deinococcota bacteria. It was first isolated from the hot spring at São Pedro do Sul, in central Portugal, and at the island of Sao Miguel in the Azores. Its type strain is SPS-243T (=LMG 22897T =CIP 108604T). The species was differentiated with the 16S rRNA gene sequence and biochemical characteristics.

Description Meiothermus timidus forms rod-shaped cells of variable length and are 0.5–0.8 μm wide. Long filaments are present. They are Gram-negative bacteria. The cells are non-motile and lack spores. Colonies on Thermus medium are bright yellow-pigmented and 1–2 mm in diameter after 72 h of growth. The optimum growth temperature is 55-60 °C and the optimum growth pH approx. 7.5; growth will not occur at 5.0 or 10.5. The major respiratory quinone is menaquinone-8. It is aerobic and heterotrophic. All strains are oxidase positive and catalase positive. Nitrate is reduced to nitrite. Degradation of elastin, starch and casein is positive. Strains SPS-243T, RQ-10 and RQ-12 utilize D-glucose, D-fructose, D-melibiose, D-cellobiose, sucrose, D-trehalose, D-raffinose, D-xylose, L-arabinose, D-sorbitol, D-mannitol, pyruvate, succinate, L-serine, L-asparagine, L-arginine, L-glutamine and L-proline.

Etymology The specific name of Meiothermus timidus comes from the Latin noun timidus, meaning "timid" or "shy", because only one strain was recovered from the hot spring at São Pedro do Sul after the isolation of so many organisms, over several years, from this site.

References

Further reading Albuquerque, Luciana, et al. "Truepera radiovictrix gen. nov., sp. nov., a new radiation resistant species and the proposal of Trueperaceae fam. nov." FEMS Microbiology Letters 247.2 (2005): 161-169. Tindall, Brian J., et al. "Complete genome sequence of Meiothermus ruber type strain (21T)." Standards in genomic sciences 3.1 (2010): 26. Ekman, Jaakko, et al. "Detection and quantitation of colored deposit-forming Meiothermus spp. in paper industry processes and end products." Journal of industrial microbiology & biotechnology 34.3 (2007): 203-211. Albuquerque, Luciana, et al. "Meiothermus rufus sp. nov., a new slightly thermophilic red-pigmented species and emended description of the genus Meiothermus." Systematic and Applied Microbiology 32.5 (2009): 306-313.

External links Type strain of Meiothermus timidus at BacDive - the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Meiothermus timidus

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Meiothermus timidus claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Meiothermus timidus before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Meiothermus timidus ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Meiothermus timidus

In research: Meiothermus timidus appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Meiothermus timidus in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Meiothermus timidus is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Bacteria described in 2005, Deinococcota, Gram-negative bacteria, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Meiothermus timidus outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Meiothermus timidus in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Meiothermus timidus means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Meiothermus timidus out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Meiothermus timidus in simple terms?

Why does Meiothermus timidus matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Meiothermus timidus?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Meiothermus timidus.