Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC-NDCell
A geothermal amoeba sets a new upper temperature limit for eukaryotes
14 affiliations
- 1Biology Department, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA; DOE Joint Genome Institute, Berkeley, CA, USA. Electronic address: [email protected]
- 2Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
- 3DOE Joint Genome Institute, Berkeley, CA, USA
- 4Department of Chemistry, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA
- 5Department of Biochemistry, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- 6Biology Department, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA
- 7Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, MA, USA; Program in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA
- 8Department of Biology, Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA, USA
- 9Center for Life in Extreme Environments, Department of Biology, Portland State University, Portland, OR, USA
- 10Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany
- 11Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Chico, CA, USA
- 12Biology Department, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA; Department of Chemistry, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA
- 13Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Biology, Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA, USA
- 14Biology Department, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA. Electronic address: [email protected]
Abstract
The study of temperature limits has transformed our understanding of life's boundaries but has focused on bacteria and archaea. For decades after their discovery, no eukaryote was shown to replicate above 60°C. We isolated a geothermal amoeba, Incendiamoeba cascadensis, that divides at 63°C and is motile up to 64°C. We identified an enrichment of genes related to proteostasis and environmental sensing relative to mesophilic amoebae. Comparative RNA sequencing of I. cascadensis revealed upregulation of pathways related to proteostasis, DNA repair, and membrane trafficking at high temperatures. Predicted proteins of I. cascadensis have distinct biophysical properties, including enrichment of positively charged surface residues similar to bacterial and archaeal hyperthermophiles, which suggests a convergent mechanism for protein stability under temperature stress. Together, our findings expand our understanding of where and how life can persist.
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BibTeX
@article{rappaport2026geothermal,
title = {{A geothermal amoeba sets a new upper temperature limit for eukaryotes}},
author = {Hannah B. Rappaport and Natalie A. Petek-Seoane and Tomáš Tyml and Jessica K. Niblo and Felix Mikus and Naomi E. Gilbert and Kurt M. LaButti and Godwin Ani and Ethan MacVicar and Rachel M. Shepherd and Ignacio de la Higuera and Samuel J. Lord and Gautam Dey and Gordon V. Wolfe and Omaya Dudin and Laura A. Katz and Kenneth Mark Stedman and Shahar Sukenik and Kristen Skruber and Frederik Schulz and R. Dyche Mullins and Angela Oliverio},
journal = {Cell},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1016/j.cell.2026.08.043},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2026.08.043},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - A geothermal amoeba sets a new upper temperature limit for eukaryotes
AU - Hannah B. Rappaport
AU - Natalie A. Petek-Seoane
AU - Tomáš Tyml
AU - Jessica K. Niblo
AU - Felix Mikus
AU - Naomi E. Gilbert
AU - Kurt M. LaButti
AU - Godwin Ani
AU - Ethan MacVicar
AU - Rachel M. Shepherd
AU - Ignacio de la Higuera
AU - Samuel J. Lord
AU - Gautam Dey
AU - Gordon V. Wolfe
AU - Omaya Dudin
AU - Laura A. Katz
AU - Kenneth Mark Stedman
AU - Shahar Sukenik
AU - Kristen Skruber
AU - Frederik Schulz
AU - R. Dyche Mullins
AU - Angela Oliverio
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/22
JO - Cell
DO - 10.1016/j.cell.2026.08.043
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2026.08.043
AB - The study of temperature limits has transformed our understanding of life's boundaries but has focused on bacteria and archaea. For decades after their discovery, no eukaryote was shown to replicate above 60°C. We isolated a geothermal amoeba, Incendiamoeba cascadensis, that divides at 63°C and is motile up to 64°C. We identified an enrichment of genes related to proteostasis and environmental sensing relative to mesophilic amoebae. Comparative RNA sequencing of I. cascadensis revealed upregulation of pathways related to proteostasis, DNA repair, and membrane trafficking at high temperatures. Predicted proteins of I. cascadensis have distinct biophysical properties, including enrichment of positively charged surface residues similar to bacterial and archaeal hyperthermophiles, which suggests a convergent mechanism for protein stability under temperature stress. Together, our findings expand our understanding of where and how life can persist.
SN - 0092-8674
SN - 1097-4172
ER -