Abstract
(sup13)C and (sup1)H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to identify and quantify organic solutes accumulated by the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus in response to temperature and salinity. Di-myo-inositol-phosphate and 2-O-(beta)-mannosylglycerate were the major organic solutes accumulated in these cells. The total intracellular organic solutes increased significantly in response either to an increase in temperature or to an increase in salinity, but (beta)-mannosylglycerate accumulated mainly at high salinities, whereas the concentration of di-myo-inositol-phosphate increased dramatically at supraoptimal growth temperatures. Glutamate was present at concentrations detectable by nuclear magnetic resonance only in cells grown in low-salinity media. The intracellular levels of K(sup+) are clearly dependent on the salinity of the medium, and the concentrations of this cation are high enough to counterbalance the negative charges of (beta)-mannosylglycerate and di-myo-inositol-phosphate in the cell. The results presented here together with those previously reported for Pyrococcus woesei (S. Scholz, J. Sonnenbichler, W. Schafer, and R. Hensel, FEBS Lett. 306:239-242, 1992) strongly support a role for di-myo-inositol-phosphate in thermoprotection.