Functional and structural properties of the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenases from the mesophilic archaeum Methanobacterium bryantii and from the hyperthermophilic archaea Methan-othermus fervidus, Pyrococcus woesei and Thermoproteus tenax were compared to characterize the thermophilic phenotype. Site dierected mutagenesis with the M. fervidus enzyme were performed to analyse the structural background of the thermoadaptive features of the archaeal glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase.