Computational studies predict the simultaneous presence of two and even three introns in certain crenarchaeal tRNA genes. In these multiple-intron-containing pretRNAs, the introns are nested one inside the other and the pretRNA folds into a conformation that is anticipated to allow splicing of the last intron only after splicing the others. A set of operations, each consisting of two cleavages ...

A large number of secretory proteins in the thermoacidophile Sulfolobus solfataricus are synthesized as a precursor with an unusual leader peptide that resembles bacterial type IV prepilin signal sequences. This set of proteins includes the flagellin subunit but also various solute binding proteins. Here we describe the identification of the S. solfataricus homolog of bacterial type IV prepilin...

A sequence encoding a putative extracellular endoglucanase (sso1354) was identified in the complete genome sequence of Sulfolobus solfataricus. The encoded protein shares signature motifs with members of glycoside hydrolases family 12. After an unsuccessful first attempt at cloning the full-length coding sequences in Escherichia coli, an active but unstable recombinant enzyme lacking a 27-resid...

Short regularly spaced repeats (SRSRs) occur in multiple large clusters in archaeal chromosomes and as smaller clusters in some archaeal conjugative plasmids and bacterial chromosomes. The sequence, size, and spacing of the repeats are generally constant within a cluster but vary between clusters. For the crenarchaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus P2, the repeats in the genome fall mainly into two cl...

We describe the characterization of a family 4 UDG1 (uracil DNA glycosylase) from the crenarchaeote Sulfolobus solfataricus. UDG1 is found to have a marked preference for substrates containing a G:U base pair over either A:U or single-stranded uracil-containing DNA substrates. UDG1 is found to interact with the sliding clamp PCNA (proliferating cell nuclear antigen), and does so by a conserved ...

The superoxide dismutase from the archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus (SOD Ss ) is a well-studied hyperthermophilic SOD with crystal structure and possible thermostability factors characterized. Previously, we discovered an N-terminal domain (NTD) in a thermophilic SOD from Geobacillus thermodenitrificans NG80-2 which confers heat resistance on homologous mesophilic SODs. The present study therefo...

The extreme thermoacidophiles of the genus Sulfolobus are among the best-studied archaea but have lacked small, reliable plasmid vectors, which have proven extremely useful for manipulating and analyzing genes in other microorganisms. Here we report the successful construction of a series of Sulfolobus-Escherichia coli shuttle vectors based on the small multicopy plasmid pRN1 from Sulfolobus is...

Microorganisms in nature often live in surface-associated sessile communities, encased in a self-produced matrix, referred to as biofilms. Biofilms have been well studied in bacteria but in a limited way for archaea. We have recently characterized biofilm formation in three closely related hyperthermophilic crenarchaeotes: Sulfolobus acidocaldarius, S. solfataricus, and S. tokodaii. These strai...

Sulfolobus solfataricus and Sulfolobus islandicus contain several genes exhibiting D-arabinose-inducible expression and these systems are ideal for studying mechanisms of archaeal gene expression. At sequence level, only two highly conserved cis elements are present on the promoters: a regulatory element named ara box directing arabinose-inducible expression and the basal promoter element TATA,...