Figure 25.14A What Is the Highest Temperature Compatible with Life?

Original Paper: Kashefi, K. and D. R. Lovley. 2003. Extending the upper temperature limit for life. Science 301: 934.

Can any organism thrive at temperatures above 120°C? This is the temperature used for sterilization, known to destroy all previously described organisms. Kazem Kashefi and Derek Lovley isolated an unidentified prokaryote from water samples taken near a hydrothermal vent and found it survived and even multiplied at 121°C. The organism was dubbed “Strain 121,” and its gene sequencing results indicate that it is a prokaryotic archaeal species.