Environmental, Biogeographic, and Biochemical Patterns of Archaea of the Family Ferroplasmaceae

Abstract

ABSTRACTAbout 10 years ago, a new family of cell wall-deficient, iron-oxidizing archaea,Ferroplasmaceae, within the large archaeal phylumEuryarchaeota, was described. In this minireview, I summarize the research progress achieved since then and report on the current status of taxonomy, biogeography, physiological diversity, biochemistry, and other research areas involving this exciting group of acidophilic archaea.