L-ALANINE PRODUCTION FROM GLUCOSE FERMENTATION BY HYPERTHERMOPHILIC MEMBERS OF THE DOMAINS BACTERIA AND ARCHAEA - A REMNANT OF AN ANCESTRALMETABOLISM

New members of the order Thermotogales were isolated from nonvolcanica lly heated geothermal environments, including oil fields and waters of the Great Artesian Basin of Australia, thereby extending their known habitats, previously recognized primarily as volcanic. The hyperthermo philic and thermophilic members of Thermotogales of volcanic origin, t ogether with the recently described nonvolcanic species of this order and three new isolates described in this paper, were all found to prod uce L-alanine from glucose fermentation, in addition to acetate, lacta te, CO2 and H-2. L-Alanine production from glucose is a trait in commo n with Pyrococcus furiosus and Thermococcus profundus. We propose that L-alanine production from sugar fermentation be regarded as an ancest ral metabolic characteristic.