Genome Analysis of the Anaerobic Thermohalophilic Bacterium Halothermothrix orenii

Halothermothirx orenii is a strictly anaerobic thermohalophilic bacterium isolated from sediment of a Tunisian salt lake. It belongs to the order Halanaerobiales in the phylum Firmicutes. The complete sequence revealed that the genome consists of one circular chromosome of 2578146 bps encoding 2451 predicted genes. This is the first genome sequence of an organism belonging to the Haloanaerobiales. Features of both Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria were identified with the presence of both a sporulating mechanism typical of Firmicutes and a characteristic Gram negative lipopolysaccharide being the most prominent. Protein sequence analyses and metabolic reconstruction reveal a unique combination of strategies for thermophilic and halophilic adaptation. H. orenii can serve as a model organism for the study of the evolution of the Gram negative phenotype as well as the adaptation under thermohalophilic conditions and the development of biotechnological applications under conditions that require high temperatures and high salt concentrations

How to Detect X-Rays and Gamma-Rays from Space: Optics and Detectors

The measurable quantities of the sky’s light, for any wavelength, are energy, position, arrival time, and polarization. Each of them reveal different information about the science target (e.g. gas dynamics, state and distribution of the matter, temperature, luminosity) and require specific detecting solutions. In the study of X-rays and gamma-rays up to the TeV regime, their absorption by the atmosphere (by 50% at 30 km altitude for 1 MeV photon) requires the development of space applications. The science goals of the mission define which technological benchmark should be maximised (e.g. energy or spatial resolution), but the final design of high energy instruments is the result of a trade-off analysis among the detection specifications, the need for space-borne electronic systems and materials, and the limited resources in mass budget, electrical power, and telemetry rates