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February 1, 2002
Art Gallery
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past galleries
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When
extremophiles were first discovered, they seemed more like science fiction
than the remarkable creatures we now know them to be. These microbes live
in the harshest environments on the planet—extreme heat and intense
cold—and have specialized skills rarely seen in nature. Deinococcus
radiodurans, for example, survives radiation that would kill a human
being by systematically repairing its damaged DNA in as little as a few
hours.
This week, the Art Gallery features images of D. radiodurans and
three heat-resistant extremophiles sequenced at TIGR between 1996 and
1999.
 
Deinococcus radiodurans
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Methanococcus jannaschii
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Archaeoglobus fulgidus
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Thermotoga
maritima
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| Credits from top to bottom:
Image 1© Michael Daly;
Image 2 © W. Jack Jones;
Images 3 & 4 © K. O. Stetter & R. Rachel, University
of Regensburg, Germany. |
—Birgit Reinert
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| White,
O. et al. Genome sequence of the radioresistant bacterium Deinococcus
radiodurans R1. Science 286, 1571-1577 (November
19, 1999). |
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| Nelson,
K.E. et al. Evidence for lateral gene transfer between Archaea
and bacteria from genome sequence of Thermotoga maritima. Nature
399, 323-329 (May 27, 1999). |
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| Klenk,
H.P. et al. The complete genome sequence of the hyperthermophilic,
sulphate-reducing archaeon Archaeoglobus fulgidus. Nature
390, 364-370 (November 27, 1997). |
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| Bult,
C.J. et al. Complete genome sequence of the methanogenic archaeon,
Methanococcus jannaschii. Science 273, 1058-1073
(August 23, 1996). |
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