science

Symbiobacterium thermophilum

Symbiobacterium thermophilum 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 Symbiobacterium thermophilum rather than just read about it. In short: Symbiobacterium thermophilum is a symbiotic thermophile that depends on co-culture with a Bacillus strain for growth. It is Gram-negative and tryptophanase-positive, with type strain T(T) (= IAM 14863T).

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Symbiobacterium thermophilum is a symbiotic thermophile that depends on co-culture with a Bacillus strain for growth. It is Gram-negative and tryptophanase-positive, with type strain T(T) (= IAM 14863T). It is the type species of its genus. Symbiobacterium is related to the Gram-positive Bacillota and Actinomycetota, but belongs to a lineage that is distinct from both.S. thermophilum has a bacillus shaped cell structure with no flagella. This bacterium is located throughout the environment in soils and fertilizers.

Cell structure Although Gram staining S. thermophilum shows a negative lab result, there are key Gram-negative membrane biosynthesis proteins that it lacks, such as LPS:glycosyltransferase and polysaccharide transporters. Instead, the cell structure of S. thermophilum includes proteins STH61, 969, 1321, 2197, 2492, and 3168 which are associated with the enveloped S-layer bacteria. The bacillus shape of S. thermophilum cells may be caused by the mreBCD (STH372-4) gene, located adjacent to the min locus. Although it has no flagella, the genome of S. thermophilum does include a flagella biosynthesis gene cluster. S. thermophilum is found to produce endospores in specific conditions. There is less research on the spore-like structure of S. thermophilum as it is the rarer form.

Genome structure Its genome has been sequenced, and has a size of 3.57 Mbp, with 3338 protein-coding genes. Characteristics of S. thermophilum such as the production of tryptophanase and β-tyrosinase, the cell surface structure, and a negative gram stain results indicate that the bacteria is Gram-negative. However, the sequence of 16S rRNA gene led to the complete phylogenic analysis of S. thermophilum, concluding it was in fact Gram-positive. High-G+C content (68.7%) along with its Gram stain results indicates that S. thermophilum belongs to the Actinomyces phylum, but the genome and proteins are more closely related to the Firmicutes, a Gram-positive phylum with low-G+C content. S. thermophilum further defies the knowledge that endospore forming genes are unique to the Bacillus-Clostridium group, showing genes involved in the formation of endospores. Sequencing of proteins proved biological roles in 2,082 of the 3,338 CDSs. The genome of S. thermophilum is not even partially alike other prokaryotic genomes sequenced at this point in time, as indicated by a CDS similarity matrix search.

Growth Symbiobacterium thermophilum depends on other strains of Bacillus to grow, in a co-culture mechanism. This is known as microbial commensalism and often occurs in composts. S. thermophilum is one of many cultures that arise from compost derivatives. Under optimal conditions, the growth rate maximizes at 5x10^8 cells/mL.

Metabolism Symbiobacterium thermophilum uses the non-oxidative branch of the pentose-phosphate glycolytic pathway for metabolism. Despite not using the Entner-Doudoroff pathway and lacking both cellulose-degrading and amylose-degrading enzymes, it has the genes and ability to metabolize glycerol, gluconate, cellobiose, N-acetylgalactosamine, tyrosine, and tryptophan. S. thermophilum contains genes for ferredoxin oxidoreductases, pyruvate, and 2-oxoacid. S. thermophilum lacks the genes for methionine and lysine biosynthesis but has the enzymes that are utilized to biosynthesize amino acids.

Respiration The variety of respiratory enzymes possessed by S. thermophilum enables the bacterium to grow in both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. The ability to grow in both aerobic and anaerobic conditions is indicated by the presence of both aerobic glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and anaerobic glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase. The presence of the Nap nitrate reductase gene cluster and Nar nitrate reductase suggest that S. thermophilum utilizes nitrate respiration.

Habitat Due to the thermophilic nature of S. thermophilum, areas that are ideal for the survival of the bacteria would be ones that have increased temperatures and are nutrient dense. The habitats that are most suited for S. thermophilum would be in the intestinal tract of animals and also in composts. This is because both of those areas contain the essentials for the bacteria to survive.

Distribution and diversity Symbiobacterium thermophilum is a bacterium that is widely distributed throughout the environment. It can be found in many different types of soil and fertilizers that contain animal feces, as well as inside animal intestines, and in the feed that is given to the animals. To determine the distribution of S. thermophilum, tests were done to check for growth of the bacterium and whether or not the item being tested contained tryptophanase. In a study done at the Department of Applied Biological Sciences in Nihon University, Fujisawa, Japan, there was a random sample of Symbiobacterium that was cloned and it determined that out of the 31 samples taken, 16 of the cases showed that the sample had a more diverse genetic structure, whereas the other 15 samples had less diverse genetics due to the results showing that the genetics were almost identical to S. thermophilum.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Symbiobacterium thermophilum

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Symbiobacterium thermophilum 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 Symbiobacterium thermophilum 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 Symbiobacterium thermophilum 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 Symbiobacterium thermophilum

In research: Symbiobacterium thermophilum 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 Symbiobacterium thermophilum 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: Symbiobacterium thermophilum is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Bacteria described in 2000, Eubacteriales, Symbiosis, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Symbiobacterium thermophilum 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 Symbiobacterium thermophilum in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Symbiobacterium thermophilum 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 Symbiobacterium thermophilum out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Symbiobacterium thermophilum in simple terms?

Why does Symbiobacterium thermophilum 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 Symbiobacterium thermophilum?

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 Symbiobacterium thermophilum.