In taxonomy

Alpha taxonomy

Alpha taxonomy is the discipline concerned with finding, describing and naming species of living or fossil organisms. This field is supported by institutions holding collections of these organisms, with relevant data, carefully curated: such institutes include natural history museums, herbaria and...

, Methanopyrus is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of the Methanopyraceae

Methanopyraceae

In taxonomy, the Methanopyraceae are a family of the Methanopyrales.-External links:...

.

Methanopyrus is a genus of methanogen

Methanogen

Methanogens are microorganisms that produce methane as a metabolic byproduct in anoxic conditions. They are classified as archaea, a group quite distinct from bacteria...

, with a single described species, M. kandleri. It is a hyperthermophile

Hyperthermophile

A hyperthermophile is an organism that thrives in extremely hot environments— from 60 degrees C upwards. An optimal temperature for the existence of hyperthermophiles is above 80°C . Hyperthermophiles are a subset of extremophiles, micro-organisms within the domain Archaea, although some bacteria...

, discovered on the wall of a black smoker from the Gulf of California

Gulf of California

The Gulf of California is a body of water that separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexican mainland...

 at a depth of 2000 m, at temperatures of 84-110 °C. Strain 116 was discovered in black smoker fluid of the Kairei hydrothermal field; it can survive and reproduce at 122 °C. It lives in a hydrogen

Hydrogen

Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...

-carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...

 rich environment, and like other methanogens reduces the former to methane

Methane

Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...

. It is placed among the Euryarchaeota

Euryarchaeota

In the taxonomy of microorganisms, the Euryarchaeota are a phylum of the Archaea.The Euryarchaeota include the methanogens, which produce methane and are often found in intestines, the halobacteria, which survive extreme concentrations of salt, and some extremely thermophilic aerobes and anaerobes...

, in its own class.

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