Cells of strain TK-6
T are Gram-negative, nonmotile straight rods of 0.3 to 0.5 µm by 2.0 to 3.0 µm occurring singly or in pairs [
1] ( and ). Molecular oxygen is used as an electron acceptor for respiratory metabolism [
1]. However, strain TK-6
T can grow anaerobically on nitrate as an electron acceptor when molecular hydrogen is used as an energy source [
33]. Strain TK-6
T does not form colonies on agar plates, but does form colonies on plates solidified with GELRITE, a polysaccharide produced by
Pseudomonas species [
34]. The optimal temperature for autotrophic growth on H
2-O
2-CO
2 was between 70ºC and 75°C, no growth being observed at 37°C or 80°C [
1]. A neutral pH 7.2 was suitable for growth of the strain TK-6
T [
1]. One important feature of the strain TK-6
T is a generation time that is faster by about 1h compared to other autotrophs, suggesting that this strain has an efficient hydrogen-oxidizing ability [
35]. No spore formation was observed [
1]. Strain TK-6
T assimilates carbon dioxide via the reductive tricarboxylic acid cycle [
10,
36,
37]. This is also true when the strain TK-6
T grows anaerobically on nitrate [
10]. Cytochromes
b and
c were found in strain TK-6
T [
1]. Interestingly, cytochrome C
552 of
H. thermophilus TK-6
T is extremely thermostable and can restore its conformation even after being autoclaved for 10 minutes at 121ºC [
30]. One of the denitrification enzymes of the strain TK-6
T, cytochrome
cd1 nitrite reductase has been isolated and analyzed [
38]. Optimum temperature for the activity of this enzyme was found to range between 70ºC-75ºC [
38]. Moreover, this enzyme was found to be of the heme
cd1-type [
33]. Ammonium and nitrate were utilized as nitrogen sources [
1,
33], but not urea and N
2. Growth was inhibited by nitrite [
1]. Nitrate reduction and peroxidase were positive, while urease was negative [
1]. Strain TK-6
T could not utilize any of the following as sole sources of energy or carbon: glucose, fructose, galactose, maltose, sucrose, xylose, raffinose, L-rhamnose, D-mannose, D-trehalose, mannitol, starch, formate, acetate, propionate, pyruvate, succinate, malate, citrate, fumarate, maleate, glycolate, gluconate, DL-lactate, α-ketoglutarate,
p-hydroxybenzoate, DL-polyhydroxybutyrate, betaine, methanol, ethanol, methylamine, dimethylamine, trimethylamine, glycine, L-glutamate, L-aspartate, L-serine, L-leucine, L
-valine, L-tryptophan, L-histidine, L-alanine, L-lysine, L-proline, L-arginine, nutrient broth, yeast extract-malt extract medium, and brain heart infusion [
1]. Strain TK-6
T showed no growth under an atmosphere containing 90% CO, 5% CO
2, and 5% O
2 [
1]. No heterotrophic growth was observed in the presence of glucose, fructose, pyruvate, citrate, α-ketoglutarate, succinate, fumarate, malate, acetate, and ethanol with and without yeast extract or carbon dioxide at different concentrations (0.02, 0.05, and 0.1% wt/vol) [
1].
H. thermophilus TK-6
T was recently reported to grow on formate and formamide [
39]. Malate dehydrogenase, isocitrate dehydrogenase and glucose-6-phosphate isomerase were also detected in the strain TK-6
T [
1]. Enzymes of the reductive tricarboxylic acid cycle and some related enzymes in cell-free extracts of strain TK-6
T were detected and their specific activities were found to increase with the temperature, the enzymes being more active at 70°C, as compared to lower temperatures (50°C and 30°C) [
10]. In
H. thermophilus, ATP-dependent citrate cleavage is catalyzed by two enzymes, citryl-CoA synthetase and citryl-CoA lyase, which catalyze ATP-dependent formation of citryl-CoA from citrate and CoA and the subsequent cleavage of citryl-CoA into acetyl-CoA and oxaloacetate, respectively [
40,
41]. The biochemistry of key enzymes of the reductive tricarboxylic acid cycle, such as fumarate reductase, ATP citrate lyase, pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase and 2-oxoglutarate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, have been studied in some detail in strain TK-6
T [
10,
37,
42]. Strain TK-6
T lacks some important enzyme activities in the central carbon metabolic pathways [
43]. For example, activities of phosphofructokinase, pyruvate kinase, 6-phosphogluconate aldolase, which are key enzymes of the Embden-Meyerhof and the Entner-Doudoroff pathways, and activity of α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase of the tricarboxylic acid cycle could not be detected in cell-free extracts of strain TK-6
T [
43]. This is in accord with the findings from the genome sequencing where none of these genes were found in the genome. These metabolic deficits were considered to be partially responsible for the obligate autotrophy of the strain TK-6
T [
44]. Activities of phosphoenolpyruvate synthetase and pyruvate carboxylase were also detected [
10]. The reverse reactions (dehydrogenase reactions) of α-ketoglutarate synthase and pyruvate synthase could be detected by using methyl viologen as an electron acceptor [
10]. Cloning experiments of the hydrogenase genes from the strain TK-6
T revealed that this strain has at least four clusters of hydrogenase genes [
35]. Strain TK-6
T assimilates ammonium using glutamine synthetase (GS type I) [
45]. Anisomycin, cycloheximide and emetine (100 µg/ml each) do not inhibit protein biosynthesis and therefore growth of strain TK-6
T [
46]. But the inhibitors of protein biosynthesis streptomycin, kanamycin, chloramphenicol, erythromycin, oleandomycin and virginiamycin were found to suppress growth of strain TK-6
T at concentrations below 20 µg/ml [
46]. No growth was observed when cell wall synthesis inhibitors were used, (D-cycloserine, fosfomycin, cephalosporin C, penicillin G, oxacillin and ampicillin) at the concentration even below 20 µg/ml [
46]. Strain TK-6
T could grow in the presence of monensin, lasalosid, valinomycin, nonactin and polymyxin B [
46].