Though, I am neither Greek nor have anything relating to Latin, my name Deinococcus radiodurans has derived from Greek words âdeinosâ+ âkokkosâ, meaning âterrible+berryâ and Latin âradiusâ+âdurareâ, meaning âradiation+survivingâ. My name really suits me due to my reddish-pink tetra-cocci profile. I love everything to be in extreme around me, that is why biologists know me as a polyextremeophile. No one has ever found my natural habitat; though I am not able to move (non-motile) you can find me everywhere, from animalsâ dung to weathered granite in Antarcticaâs dry valleys, but my most favorite place is âsoilâ. Since I cannot make my food (heterotrophic), I need to eat organics and mix it with oxygen (aerobic) to produce energy; yes, I am very picky on my food. But people, donât be scared of me, I could not do any harm to you (non-pathogenic). Instead, I am one of the rare microbial species used to clean up the environment (through bioremediation process) which you regularly contaminate with radioactivity and toxic chemicals.
You see, I am a particularly positive member of bacteria (gram-positive, High G+C). My cell wall has an outer membrane layer but it has not the same composition as gram-negative bacteria (not spore forming). The tremendous factors in my body are the additional genomes, redundant genetic codes and the RecA protein (essential in DNA repair). I generously make 4-10 copies of genome rather than a single copy, carry them on top of each other; it allows me to recover at least one complete copy when I am exposed to radiation. I withstand radiation a thousand times more than a person and have known the most radiation-resistant organism ever. So, I donât care if you men are to blow up your precious Earth- ha ha ha- I am going to survive.
First time, Arthur W. Anderson at Oregon Agricultural Experimental Station discovered me in 1956. He identified my unique talent in growth after exposure to radiation, while was trying new method to preserve ground meat in the can. I placed in Genus Micrococcus, after study of my RNA sequences I got a promotion; scientists put me in my own Genus Deinococcus,then distinctively grouped with Thermus which are extreme heat resistant (Phylum: Deinococcus-Thermus). While studying my abilities, scientists understood that I have evolved and endured on Earth during periods when it was unshielded by ozone layer and exposed to extreme conditions such as Ionic Radiation and Ultra Violet rays from the sun. And finally, they decided to grant me the honor to be listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as âthe worldâs toughest bacteriumâ.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvohlBiQo-4
For more information you can find me at : http://www.usuhs.edu/pat/deinococcus/index.html, http://www.thelabrat.com
http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Deinococcus_radiodurans
