Thermus aquaticus

Thermus aquaticus , also named Thermophilus aquaticus , is a thermophilous Bactérie alive near the sources of warm water (from 50 to 80 °C). Thermus aquaticus was described by Thomas Brock in 1969 in a source of the park of Yellowstone. It is a Gram-negative , aerobe and heterotrophic bacterium .

This bacterium lives at temperatures of 50 with 80°C, therefore its enzymatic Coktail resists these conditions. Normally at these temperatures, the proteins constitutive of the majority of the living beings are denatured and do not fulfill any more their functions. Among these Enzyme S, DNA polymerase of Thermus aquaticus , the Taq polymerase, is largely used for these properties of thermorésistance in the reactions of PCR. Indeed this enzyme has an optimum of operation towards 75°C.