Halorubrum persicum

General Information

Halorubrum persicum is a fascinating microorganism belonging to the domain Archaea, specifically within the family Halobacteriaceae. This extremophilic archaeon is particularly notable for its ability to thrive in hypersaline environments, such as salt lakes and saline soils, where few other organisms can survive. One of the most striking features of H. persicum is its high tolerance to salinity, often requiring salt concentrations of 20-30% for optimal growth. This makes it an excellent model organism for studying osmoregulation and the mechanisms of salt tolerance. Another intriguing aspect of Halorubrum persicum is its pigmentation. The cells often exhibit a reddish hue due to the presence of carotenoid pigments, which not only protect the cells from intense solar radiation but also contribute to the organism's ability to harvest light energy. This characteristic is particularly valuable for research into photoprotection and the potential biotechnological applications of carotenoids. H. persicum also possesses unique metabolic pathways that allow it to utilize a variety of organic compounds, making it a versatile organism for studying metabolic diversity and adaptation. Its ability to produce extracellular enzymes that can function in high-salt conditions is of significant interest for industrial applications, such as in the production of salt-tolerant enzymes for use in harsh industrial processes. In summary, Halorubrum persicum is a highly adaptable and resilient archaeon with several unique features that make it a valuable subject for scientific research. Its extreme halophilicity, distinctive pigmentation, and versatile metabolism offer numerous opportunities for advancing our understanding of life in extreme environments and for developing novel biotechnological applications.

Halorubrum persicum is a fascinating halophilic archaeon that thrives in extremely saline environments, such as salt flats and salt lakes. This organism is particularly interesting due to its ability to adapt to high salt concentrations, which can be detrimental to most other forms of life. Its unique adaptations include specialized proteins and cellular mechanisms that maintain osmotic balance, allowing it to survive and flourish where few other organisms can. One of the most notable features of Halorubrum persicum is its potential for biotechnological applications. The enzymes produced by this archaeon, particularly those that function optimally in high-salt conditions, are of great interest for industrial processes that require salt-tolerant biocatalysts. These enzymes can be utilized in the food industry, bioremediation, and even in the production of biofuels, making Halorubrum persicum a valuable organism for research and commercial applications. Additionally, the study of Halorubrum persicum contributes to our understanding of extremophiles and the limits of life on Earth. Research into its genomic and metabolic pathways can provide insights into evolutionary biology and the adaptations necessary for survival in extreme environments. This organism serves as a model for studying the fundamental processes of life under conditions that mimic those found on other planets, thus holding potential implications for astrobiology. In summary, Halorubrum persicum stands out not only for its remarkable resilience to extreme salinity but also for its promising applications in biotechnology and its role in advancing our understanding of life in extreme conditions.

Taxonomy

Superkingdom: Archaea

Phylum: Euryarchaeota

Class: Halobacteria

Order: Halobacteriales

Family: Haloferacaceae

Genus: Halorubrum

Species: Halorubrum persicum

NCBI ID

1383844

Genome Info

FTP Path:
ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genomes/all/GCF/002/727/125/GCF_002727125.1_ASM272712v1

File for sequence-based predictions:
GCF_002727125.1_ASM272712v1_genomic.fasta

Descriptions

Clinical Implications and Relevance

Source: gpt-4o-mini-2024-07-18

The microorganism Halorubrum persicum is a halophilic archaeon that has garnered interest due to its potential applications in biotechnology and its role in extreme environments. While it is not primarily associated with human disease, its relevance in clinical microbiology stems from its unique adaptations and potential interactions with human health. Research has indicated that extremophiles like Halorubrum persicum may produce novel enzymes and metabolites that could be harnessed for therapeutic purposes, including drug development and bioremediation. In terms of pathogenicity, Halorubrum persicum is not known to be a human pathogen; however, its presence in saline environments raises questions about its interactions with other microorganisms, including potential symbiotic relationships that could influence human health indirectly. The study of such organisms can provide insights into microbial diversity and the role of extremophiles in maintaining ecological balance, which is crucial for understanding the microbiome's impact on human health. Furthermore, the exploration of antimicrobial resistance mechanisms in halophilic archaea like Halorubrum persicum may reveal novel strategies that could inform the development of new antimicrobial agents. Understanding how these organisms survive in high-salt environments could lead to breakthroughs in combating resistant strains of bacteria. Overall, while Halorubrum persicum does not have direct clinical implications as a pathogen, its study contributes to the broader understanding of microbial ecology, potential biotechnological applications, and the ongoing search for new therapeutic agents.

Habitat and Ecological Niches

Source: gpt-4o-mini-2024-07-18

Halorubrum persicum is a halophilic archaeon commonly found in high-salinity environments, particularly in salt flats, salt lakes, and solar salterns. This microorganism thrives in conditions where the salinity levels can exceed that of seawater, often reaching concentrations of up to 30% salt. Its ability to withstand such extreme conditions is attributed to its unique cellular adaptations, including specialized proteins and osmotic regulation mechanisms that allow it to maintain cellular integrity in hypertonic environments. Ecological Niches: Halorubrum persicum occupies a crucial niche in these saline ecosystems, contributing to the microbial community structure and functioning. It plays a significant role in the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients, particularly in the degradation of organic matter and the cycling of sulfur and nitrogen compounds. This archaeon is also involved in the production of halophilic enzymes that can be utilized in various biotechnological applications. Interactions with Surroundings: In its habitat, Halorubrum persicum often engages in symbiotic relationships with other microorganisms, including bacteria and other archaea. These interactions can enhance nutrient availability and promote the overall stability of the microbial community. Additionally, it can influence the physicochemical properties of its environment, such as pH and salinity, thereby affecting the distribution and diversity of other microbial species. Overall, Halorubrum persicum exemplifies the remarkable adaptability of life in extreme environments and highlights the importance of microbial life in maintaining the ecological balance of saline biomes.

Industrial Application

Source: gpt-4o-mini-2024-07-18

The microorganism Halorubrum persicum has shown significant potential in various industrial applications due to its unique adaptations to extreme environments. One of the primary areas of interest is in biotechnology, where Halorubrum persicum is utilized in fermentation processes to produce valuable metabolites, such as carotenoids, which are important for their antioxidant properties and applications in food and cosmetics industries. In the realm of waste management, Halorubrum persicum has been studied for its ability to thrive in high-salinity environments, making it a candidate for biodegradation of saline wastewater. Its metabolic pathways can be harnessed to break down pollutants in saline conditions, thus contributing to more effective waste treatment solutions. Furthermore, this microorganism is of interest in biofuel production. Its ability to metabolize various substrates can be explored for the production of bioethanol and other biofuels through fermentation processes, potentially leading to more sustainable energy sources. In pharmaceutical development, Halorubrum persicum may contribute to the discovery of novel compounds with antimicrobial properties, which can be crucial in the development of new drugs. The extremophilic nature of this organism allows it to produce unique enzymes that can be utilized in various biochemical applications, including enzyme production for industrial processes. Overall, Halorubrum persicum represents a versatile microorganism with promising applications across multiple industries, particularly in biotechnology, waste management, biofuel production, and pharmaceutical development.

Phenotypes and Predictions

The table shows the phenotypes and predictions. Cell colors indicate the class of the value. When literature-based data is available, a checkmark (✓) indicates a correct prediction, while an ✗ indicates an incorrect prediction.

Literature-based phenotypes: 10

LLM predicted phenotypes: 2

Phenotype	High-quality annotation	anthropic/claude-3.5-sonnet	google/gemini-pro	google/gemini-flash-1.5	meta-llama/llama-3-8b-instruct:nitro	perplexity/llama-3-sonar-small-32k-chat	openchat/openchat-7b	anthropic/claude-3-haiku:beta	openai/gpt-3.5-turbo-0125	openai/gpt-3.5-turbo-0125	google/palm-2-chat-bison-32k	google/palm-2-chat-bison-32k	mistralai/mixtral-8x7b-instruct:nitro	mistralai/mixtral-8x7b-instruct:nitro	microsoft/wizardlm-2-8x22b	microsoft/wizardlm-2-8x22b	openai/gpt-4o	openai/gpt-4o	google/gemini-pro-1.5	google/gemini-pro-1.5	google/gemma-7b-it	google/gemma-7b-it	meta-llama/llama-3-70b-instruct:nitro	meta-llama/llama-3-70b-instruct:nitro	openai/gpt-4	openai/gpt-4	microsoft/phi-3-mini-128k-instruct	microsoft/phi-3-mini-128k-instruct	mistralai/mistral-7b-instruct	mistralai/mistral-7b-instruct
Motility	FALSE	true ✗	false ✓	true ✗	true ✗	true ✗	false ✓	true ✗	true ✗	true ✗	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	true ✗	true ✗	true ✗	true ✗	true ✗	true ✗	true ✗	true ✗	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓
Gram staining	gram stain negative	gram stain negative ✓	gram stain negative ✓	gram stain negative ✓	gram stain negative ✓	gram stain positive ✗	gram stain negative ✓	gram stain negative ✓	N/A	gram stain negative ✓	N/A	gram stain negative ✓	N/A	gram stain negative ✓	N/A	gram stain negative ✓	N/A	gram stain negative ✓	N/A	gram stain negative ✓	N/A	gram stain negative ✓	N/A	gram stain negative ✓	N/A	gram stain negative ✓	N/A	gram stain negative ✓	N/A	gram stain negative ✓
Aerophilicity	aerobic	aerobic ✓	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	facultatively anaerobic ✗	facultatively anaerobic ✗	aerobic ✓	aerobic ✓	facultatively anaerobic ✗	facultatively anaerobic ✗	aerobic ✓	aerobic ✓	aerobic ✓	aerobic ✓	aerobic ✓	aerobic ✓	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	facultatively anaerobic ✗	facultatively anaerobic ✗	aerobic ✓	aerobic ✓
Extreme environment tolerance	TRUE	true ✓	true ✓	true ✓	true ✓	true ✓	true ✓	true ✓	true ✓	true ✓	true ✓	true ✓	true ✓	true ✓	true ✓	true ✓	true ✓	true ✓	true ✓	true ✓	true ✓	true ✓	true ✓	true ✓	true ✓	true ✓	true ✓	true ✓	true ✓	true ✓
Biofilm formation	N/A	true	true	true	true	true	false	true	true	true	true	true	true	true	true	true	true	true	false	false	true	true	true	true	false	false	true	true	false	false
Animal pathogenicity	FALSE	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓
Biosafety level	biosafety level 1	biosafety level 1 ✓	biosafety level 1 ✓	biosafety level 1 ✓	biosafety level 1 ✓	biosafety level 1 ✓	biosafety level 2 ✗	biosafety level 1 ✓	biosafety level 1 ✓	biosafety level 1 ✓	biosafety level 1 ✓	biosafety level 1 ✓	biosafety level 1 ✓	biosafety level 1 ✓	biosafety level 1 ✓	biosafety level 1 ✓	biosafety level 1 ✓	biosafety level 1 ✓	biosafety level 1 ✓	biosafety level 1 ✓	biosafety level 1 ✓	biosafety level 1 ✓	biosafety level 1 ✓	biosafety level 1 ✓	biosafety level 1 ✓	biosafety level 1 ✓	biosafety level 1 ✓	biosafety level 1 ✓	N/A	N/A
Health association	N/A	false	false	false	false	true	false	true	false	false	false	false	false	false	false	false	false	false	false	false	false	false	false	false	false	false	false	false	false	false
Host association	FALSE	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	true ✗	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓
Plant pathogenicity	FALSE	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓
Spore formation	FALSE	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓	false ✓
Hemolysis	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Cell shape	bacillus	bacillus ✓	coccus ✗	coccus ✗	coccus ✗	coccus ✗	coccus ✗	bacillus ✓	bacillus ✓	bacillus ✓	coccus ✗	coccus ✗	bacillus ✓	bacillus ✓	coccus ✗	coccus ✗	bacillus ✓	bacillus ✓	coccus ✗	coccus ✗	bacillus ✓	bacillus ✓	bacillus ✓	bacillus ✓	bacillus ✓	bacillus ✓	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

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