Korarchaeota
| Korarchaeota | ||||||
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Korarchaeota, SEM image of an enrichment culture from the Obsidian Pool in Yellowstone National Park |
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| Systematics | ||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||
| Korarchaeota | ||||||
| SM Barns , 1996 |
The Korarchaeota (also Xenarchaeota ) are a tribe within the Archaea that was only described in 1996 . They were distinguished from the previously known Crenarchaeota and Euryarchaeota by sequencing the 16S subunits of their rRNA . The question of whether these archaea should be regarded as a separate strain or must be counted among the Crenarchaeota is still unclear, as they could also be an extremely unusual and at the same time rapid mutation in the genome of the 16S rRNA.
Korarchaeota live in high-temperature, hydrothermal habitats. The metabolic processes and, above all, the metabolism with which energy and carbon are obtained have not yet been clarified. The genome of an enriched Korarchaeota colony is currently being sequenced.
Within the Korarchaeota no valid taxa on the family, genus or species level have yet been described. The well-known members are still under informal names like "Candidatus Korarchaeum cryptofilum OPF8" in an informal genus "Candidatus Korarchaeum ".
