"Candidatus Aciduliprofundum boonei" is an obligate thermoacidophilic candidate species of archaea belonging to the phylum "Euryarchaeota".

A. boonei" is the first cultured representative of a biogeochemically significant clade of thermoacidophilic archaea known as the "Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vent Euryarchaeota 2 (DHVE2)".

A. boonei" cells are enveloped by a plasma membrane and a single S-layer, which is structurally comparable to that of Picrophilus oshimae.

A. boonei" demonstrates visible plasticity and is capable of bending into small, highly curved structures resembling vesicles.

In other bacteria and archaea vesicles such as these are produced to remove misfolded proteins or toxins during periods of stress, to shuttle mRNA, cell-cell communication, and to deliver virulence factors.

This biochemical structure is likely a hallmark trait of acidophilic Thermoproteota and "Euryarchaeota", and have been detected in Ferroplasma and Thermoplasma, which are the closest cultured relatives of "Ca.

It is believed that conductive cooling and diffusion of end member fluids creates the perfect microniche for optimum survival of the organism in such a harsh environment.

The unique hydrothermal environment is rich in sulfur- and iron-based metabolites that are used by a variety of lithotrophic organisms as electron donors and acceptors.

As a result, the local environment allows for a broad spectrum of metabolic processes that are dependent on thermal and chemical gradients.

A. boonei" has been shown to have a membrane embedded with peptidases and an arsenal of permeases which help degrade the extracellular components and subsequently transport them into the cell for utilization.

Based on ecological studies of deep-sea hydrothermal vent systems, it is believed that the anoxic reduced environments in which "Ca.

[4] Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene allowed for phylogenetic reconstruction of the DHVE2 and other deep branching thermophilic archaea often found in the hydrothermal environment.

The archaeon was first isolated in sulfide samples collected on diving expeditions at the Eastern Lau Spreading Center, as part of a research project directed by Anna-Louis Reysenbach in 2006.