Microbe Profile: Thermococcus kodakarensis: the model hyperthermophilic archaeon

Thermococcus kodakarensis is a hyperthermophilic Euryarchaeon that grows well under laboratory conditions and, being naturally competent for genetic transformation, it has become a widely studied experimental model species. With the genome sequence available since 2004, combining genetic, enzymological and structural biochemical approaches has revealed previously unknown and unanticipated features of archaeal molecular biology and metabolism. T. kodakarensis DNA polymerase is already commercialized and with the details of metabolism and hydrogenase available, generating H(2) from biopolymers solubilized at high temperatures, most notably chitin, now seems a very attractive possibility as a renewable energy bioprocess.