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Nautila profundicola is a gram negative chemolithoautotrophic epsilonproteobacteria found around hydrothermal vents in the deep ocean.1 First discovered in 1999 on the East Pacific Rise at depth of 2500 meters. The bacteria were found on the surface of the Polychaete worm Alvinella pompejana.3 Nautilia profundicola live symbiotically on the dorsal hairs of Alvinella pompejana but they also may form biofilms and live independently on the walls of hydrothermal vents. The ability of Nautilia profundicola to survive in an anaerobic sulfur, H2 and CO2 rich environment of varying temperature makes it a useful organism to study, as these are the conditions that are theorized to have prevailed around the time of the earliest life on earth.1

Morphology
Nautilia profundicola are motile rod shaped bacteria, around 0.4 μm long and 0.3 μm wide.3 Nautilia profundicola like most epsilonproteobacteria have an unsheathed polar flagella.5

Physiology
Nautilia profundicola lives among the hydrothermal vents and can grow at temperatures of 30–55 °C. It uses anaerobic respiration and is a chemolithoautotroph. Nautilia profundicola uses hydrogen or formate as an electron donor and sulfur an electron acceptor to produce hydrogen sulfide3. Nautilia profundicola contains the protein reverse gyrase which has been found amongst thermophilic bacteria which helps it survive the large temperature variation associated with its enviroment.1 Reverse gyrase is theorized to keep the genome stable and prevent damage by the extreme heat. 2 Along with the ability to fix carbon and sulfur, analysis of Nautilia profundicola genome points to a novel pathway of nitrogen fixation.1

Taxonomy
Analysis of the16S rRNA gene sequence of Nautilia profundicola sequence allowed it to be placed in the family Nautiliaceae of the order Nautiliales in the class epsilonproteobacteria. Analysis of this gene demonstrated that this organism shared 97.8% of its DNA for this gene with the related bacteria Nautilia lithotrophica. Using DNA–DNA hybridization the total DNA-DNA relatedness of the two organisms was found to be 34.6% which along with differences in phylogeny allowed Nautilia profundicola to be classified as its own species.3

Genomic Information
The genome of Nautilia profundicola consists of one circular chromosome composed of 1.7 Mbp, which is small compared to other free living epsilonproteobacteria.1There is relatively little evidence of the influence of horizontal gene transfer in the genome of Nautilia profundicola and this lack of external DNA is theorized to be a product of its own defense mechanisms or the lack of free DNA in the surrounding inhospitable environment.1

Ecological Function
Nautilia profundicola is a member of the epsilonproteobacteria, which are dominant in the vent ecosystem and are likely key players in the cycling of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfer.1 Nautilia profundicola has been found to have a symbiotic relationship with Alvinella pompejana, in which the worm secretes edible mucus possibly in exchange for the bacterium’s heat resistant enzymes. This has the potential to explain how Alvinella pompejana can survive with one part of its body in 80 °C water in the vent and the rest of its body in 22°C water outside the vent.4