THE COMPLETE GENOME SEQUENCE OF THE HYPERTHERMOPHILIC, SULFATE-REDUCING ARCHAEON ARCHAEOGLOBUS-FULGIDUS

Archaeoglobus fulgidus is the first sulphur-metabolizing organism to h ave its genome sequence determined. Its genome of 2,178,400 base pairs contains 2,436 open reading frames (ORFs). The Information processing systems and the biosynthetic pathways for essential components (nucle otides, amino acids and cofactors) have extensive correlation with the ir counterparts in the archaeon Methanococcus jannaschii. The genomes of these two Archaea indicate dramatic differences in the way these or ganisms sense their environment, perform regulatory and transport func tions, and gain energy. In contrast to M. jannaschii, A. fulgidus has fewer restriction-modification systems, and none of its genes appears to contain inteins. A quarter (651 ORFs) of the A. fulgidus genome enc odes functionally uncharacterized yet conserved proteins, two-thirds o f which are shared with M. jannaschii (428 ORFs). Another quarter of t he genome encodes new proteins indicating substantial archaeal gene di versity.