Minimal protein-folding systems in hyperthermophilic archaea.

Abstract

Although many archaeal species thrive in extreme environments, including hydrothermal vents, geothermal springs, acid seeps or hypersaline pools, there are also numerous species that are mesophilic. Mesophilic archaeal genomes encode complex protein-folding systems, which include combinations of bacterial and eukaryotic heat-shock proteins. Hyperthermophilic archaea, however, typically have reduced genomes that encode simplified heat-shock systems, with chaperones that are homologous to eukaryotic chaperones, and are reviewed here.