Abstract
Na.no.clep'ta. Gr. masc. n.
nânos,
a dwarf; Gr. masc. n.
kleptês,
a thief; N.L. masc. n.
Nanoclepta,
a small thief, a small organism that steals from its host.
Nanoarchaeota / Nanobdellia / Nanobdellales / Nanobdellaceae / Candidatus
Nanoclepta
The genus
Candidatus
Nanoclepta currently comprises a single species,
Candidatus
Nanoclepta minutus Ncl‐1, an anaerobic hyperthermophile (optimal growth observed from 80 to 85°C) cultivated from a New Zealand hot spring. Cells are ultra‐small cocci (∼200 nm) with archaeal flagella and are cultivated in near‐neutral pH conditions (pH ∼6.0). Like several other
Nanoarchaeota
,
Ca
. N. minutus cells are epibionts on the surface of a host from the
Crenarchaeota
. Although this symbiosis is obligate for
Ca
. N. minutus, the relationship is not required for the host,
Zestosphaera tikiterensis
NZ3
T
, which can survive as a free‐living organism.
Ca
. N. minutus has a highly reduced genome (∼0.58 Mb) with minimal biosynthetic potential and no detected ATP synthase genes, and
Ca
. Nanoclepta cells likely rely on their host for many metabolic precursors.
DNA G + C content (mol%)
:
32.2 (genome analysis).
Type species
:
Candidatus Nanoclepta minutus
St. John et al. 2019a.