Indole-3-acetic acid and 2-(indol-3-ylmethyl)indol-3-yl acetic acid in the thermophilic archaebacterium Sulfolobus acidocaldarius.

Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and 2-(indol-3-ylmethyl)indol-3-yl acetic acid were identified in lipid extracts of Sulfolobus acidocaldarius; they occurred at concentrations of 0.57 and 0.59 mumol/g (dry weight), respectively. The amount of IAA found in these cells is more than a thousand times greater than that found in a typical extract of a plant in which IAA serves as a plant growth hormone. Neither of these compounds was detected in the other archaebacteria that were analyzed; these included Sulfolobus sulfataricus, Halobacterium salinarium, and several strains of methanogenic bacteria. This is the first report of the natural occurrence of 2-(indol-3-ylmethyl)indol-3-yl acetic acid.