Identification and Characterization of Cryptic Extremophile Traits by Experimental Evolution

Extremely thermoacidophilic Crenarchaeota belonging to the family Sulfolobales flourish in hot acidic habitats that are strongly oxidizing. However, the pH extremes of these habitats often exceed the acid tolerance of type species and strains. Here, experimental evolution was used to test whether such organisms harbor additional thermoacidophilic capacity. Three distinct cell lines derived from a single type species were subjected to high temperature serial passage while culture acidity was gradually increased. A 178-fold increase in thermoacidophily was achieved after 29 increments of shifted culture pH resulting in growth at pH 0.8 and 80°C. These strains are named super acid resistant crenarchaeota (SARC). Mathematical modeling using growth parameters predicted the limits of acid resistance while genome and transcriptome resequencing provided insights into the underlying mechanisms responsible for evolved thermoacidophily. Transcriptomics of the evolved strains indicates that their unique phenotype may be due to an increased rate of membrane turnover under strong acid conditions. Overall design: 6 Samples were analyzed: 2 replicate control samples [SULA] and 2 replicate experimental samples [SULC and SULB]