FEMS Microbiology Reviews, fuaa063, 45, 2021, 1–60 https://doi.org/10.1093/femsre/fuaa063 Advance Access Publication Date: 21 January 2021 Review Article REVIEW ARTICLE The biology of thermoacidophilic archaea from the Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/femsre/article/45/4/fuaa063/6105345 by guest on 29 September 2021 order Sulfolobales April M. Lewis1, Alejandra Recalde2,†, Christopher Brasen¨ 3, James A. Counts1, Phillip Nussbaum2, Jan Bost2, Larissa Schocke3,LuShen3,Daniel J. Willard1, Tessa E. F. Quax4, Eveline Peeters5, Bettina Siebers3, Sonja-Verena Albers2 and Robert M. Kelly1,*,‡ 1Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University. Raleigh, NC 27695, USA, 2Institute for Biology, Molecular Biology of Archaea, University of Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg, Germany, 3Department of Molecular Enzyme Technology and Biochemistry, Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology, and Centre for Water and Environmental Research, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45117 Essen, Germany, 4Archaeal Virus–Host Interactions, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg, Germany and 5Research Group of Microbiology, Department of Bioengineering Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Brussels, Belgium ∗Corresponding author: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA. Tel: +1-919-515-6396; E-mail:
[email protected] One sentence summary: The natural habitat and biological features of the Sulfolobales. Editor: Mecky Pohlschroder †Alejandra Recalde, http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1610-8185 ‡Robert M. Kelly, http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0639-3592 ABSTRACT Thermoacidophilic archaea belonging to the order Sulfolobales thrive in extreme biotopes, such as sulfuric hot springs and ore deposits. These microorganisms have been model systems for understanding life in extreme environments, as well as for probing the evolution of both molecular genetic processes and central metabolic pathways.