Second Iranian Archaea Identified

Researchers at the Iranian Biological Resource Center (IBRC) were able to successfully identify the country's second native archaea – single-celled microorganisms that have no cell nucleus and any other membrane-bound organelles within their cells. The novel red-pigmented halophilic organism that survives in extremely salty conditions, archaeon strain EB27T, was isolated from hypersaline Aran-Bidgol lake in Iran.

This organism is able to survive in highly acidic or alkaline conditions and harsh environments. It is also able to grow over a pH range of 6.0-8.0 and a temperature range of 25-50°C. Discovering the functional mechanisms of how these organisms survive these extremely harsh environments may contribute to the development of new technologies for industrial biotechnology. Other possible applications may be in the biological cleanup of biological compounds, toxic metals and petroleum wastes in the environment. The IBRC is a pioneer organization at the exploration of the microbial world in Iran. So far, more than 1200 isolates (Archaea, Bacteria, yeasts and molds) have been collected at the IBRC.

See the original news in Farsi at http://www.ibrc.ir/Default.aspx?tabid=36&ctl=Details&mid=1427&ItemID=95 or in English at http://isna.ir/en/news/91022716488/Iran-discovers-2nd-indigenous-microorganism.