Searching for Mesophilic Thermotogales Bacteria: Mesotogas in the Wild

All cultivated Thermotogales are thermophiles or hyperthermophiles. However, optimized 16S rRNA primers successfully amplified Thermotogales sequences from temperate hydrocarbon-impacted sites, mesothermic oil reservoirs, and enrichment cultures incubated at <46 degrees C. We conclude that distinct Thermotogales lineages commonly inhabit low-temperature environments but may be underreported, likely due to universal 16S rRNA gene primer bias.