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...

, the Thermoplasmata are a class

Class (biology)

In biological classification, class is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, order, family, genus, and species, with class fitting between phylum and order...

 of 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...

.

All are acidophile

Acidophile

Acidophile may refer to:* Acidophile * Acidophile...

s, growing optimally at pH below 2. Picrophilus

Picrophilus

In taxonomy, Picrophilus is an archaean genus of the family Picrophilaceae.Picrophilus is an extremely acidophilic genus within Euryarchaeota. These microbes are the most acidophilic organisms currently known, with the ability to grow at a pH of -0.06. They are obligate acidophiles and are unable...

is currently the most acidophilic

Acidophile

Acidophile may refer to:* Acidophile * Acidophile...

 of all known organisms growing at a minimum pH of 0.06. Many of these organisms do not contain a cell wall, although this is not true in the case of Picrophilus

Picrophilus

In taxonomy, Picrophilus is an archaean genus of the family Picrophilaceae.Picrophilus is an extremely acidophilic genus within Euryarchaeota. These microbes are the most acidophilic organisms currently known, with the ability to grow at a pH of -0.06. They are obligate acidophiles and are unable...

. Most members of Thermotoplasmata are thermophilic.

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