Thermus aquaticus

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Thermus aquaticus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Eubacteria Genus: Thermus Species: aquaticus

Description and significance

Thermus Aquaticus isolated in 1969 by brocks and Freee of University of Indiana have proved to be of extreme importance in the field of Microbiology due to it's thermostability. It is a gram negative bacteria both motile (presence of a flagellum) or immotile.

Genome structure

This section discusses the genome structure Thermus Aquaticus contains pillus like structures used in conjugation. 12 genes in 3 loci were found to encode for preplin like proteins essential for natural transfomation. Core enzyme Taq Rna polymerase consists of 4 different subunits: Alpha(2), Beta, Beta prime, and Omega, complexed with Sigma factor. The enzyme is claw shaped with a clamp that closes on an internal channel containing Magnesium ions and the active site. Sigma interacts with core enzyme and specifically binds to promoter to widen the channel allowing DNA into interior of polymerase complex