Chemoheterotrophic obligate extreme halophilic archeon. Halobacterium salinarum NRC-1

Halobacterium sp. strain NRC-1. This microbe (strain ATCC 700922) is an obligately halophilic archeon that has adapted to growth under conditions of extremely high salinity. Motility is via tufts of polar flagella and intracellular gas vesicles are used for buoyancy. This organism grow aerobically and its ease of culturing combined with the availability of established methods of genetic manipulation in the laboratory make it an ideal model organism for study of the archaea.