Check out our New Publishers' Select for Free Articles

Archives of Microbiology (v.193, #12)

Bacterial mer operon-mediated detoxification of mercurial compounds: a short review by Vivek Bhakta Mathema; Balkrishna Chand Thakuri; Mika Sillanpää (pp. 837-844).

Mercury pollution has emerged as a major problem in industrialized zones and presents a serious threat to environment and health of local communities. Effectiveness and wide distribution of mer operon by horizontal and vertical gene transfer in its various forms among large community of microbe reflect importance and compatibility of this mechanism in nature. This review specifically describes mer operon and its generic molecular mechanism with reference to the central role played by merA gene and its related gene products. The combinatorial action of merA and merB together maintains broad spectrum mercury detoxification system for substantial detoxification of mercurial compounds. Feasibility of mer operon to coexist with antibiotic resistance gene (amp r, kan r, tet r) clusters enables extensive adaptation of bacterial species to adverse environment. Flexibility of the mer genes to exist as intricate part of chromosome, plasmids, transposons, and integrons enables high distribution of these genes in wider microbial gene pool. Unique ability of this system to manipulate oligodynamic property of mercurial compounds for volatilization of mercuric ions (Hg²⁺) makes it possible for a wide range of microbes to tolerate mercury-mediated toxicity.

Keywords: mer operon; Mercury reductase; Oligodynamic effect; Mercury toxicity

Characterization of the autophosphorylating kinase, PkaF, in Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) M130 by Eun A. Oh; Won-Jae Chi; Mi-Soon Kim; Sang Sun Kang; Jaesun Chun; Soon-Kwang Hong (pp. 845-856).

Streptomyces coelicolor, the model species for morphologically complex actinomycete bacteria, has unique characteristics such as morphological and physiological differentiation, which are controlled by various factors and several protein kinases. From the whole genomic sequence of S. coelicolor A3(2), 44 putative serine/threonine (Ser/Thr) protein kinases were identified, and the pkaF gene was chosen as the best-conserved protein for typical Ser/Thr protein kinases. pkaF encodes a 667-amino acid protein with a predicted N-terminal Ser/Thr kinase domain and four repeated C-terminal penicillin-binding domains and Ser/Thr kinase-associated (PASTA) domains. Based on PCR, a pkaF gene was cloned and heterologously expressed. PkaF expressed in Escherichia coli had the bigger molecular size than the expected value (75 kDa) and was further purified by Ni²⁺-NTA agarose affinity column chromatography to homogeneity. The purified PkaF was autophosphorylated through the transfer of the γ-phosphate group of ATP. The extent of phosphorylation was proportional to the amount of PkaF, and the phospho-PkaF was dephosphorylated by the addition of the cell lysate of S. coelicolor A3(2). Although no change was observed in the pkaF disruptant, overexpression of pkaF induced severe repression of morphogenesis and actinorhodin production, but not undecylprodigiosin production, implying that PkaF specifically regulates morphogenesis and actinorhodin production in S. coelicolor.

Keywords: Streptomyces coelicolor ; PkaF; Protein kinase; Autophosphorylation

The co-culture of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidiphilium acidophilum enhances the growth, iron oxidation, and CO₂ fixation by Hongwei Liu; Huaqun Yin; Yanxia Dai; Zhimin Dai; Yi Liu; Qian Li; Huidan Jiang; Xueduan Liu (pp. 857-866).

Although the synergetic interactions between chemolithoautotroph Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and heterotroph Acidiphilium acidophilum have drawn a share of attention, the influence of Aph. acidophilum on growth and metabolic functions of At. ferrooxidans is still unknown on transcriptional level. To assess this influence, a co-culture composed by At. ferrooxidans and Aph. acidophilum was successfully acclimated in this study. Depending on the growth dynamics, At. ferrooxidans in co-culture had 2 days longer exponential phase and 5 times more cell number than that in pure culture. The ferrous iron concentration in culture medium and the expression of iron oxidation–related genes revealed that the energy acquisition of At. ferrooxidans in co-culture was more efficient than that in pure culture. Besides, the analysis of CO₂ fixation–related genes in At. ferrooxidans indicated that the second copy of RuBisCO-encoding genes cbbLS-2 and the positive regulator–encoding gene cbbR were up-regulated in co-culture system. All of these results verified that Aph. acidophilum could heterotrophically grow with At. ferrooxidans and promote the growth of it. By means of activating iron oxidation–related genes and the second set of cbbLS genes in At. ferrooxidans, the Aph. acidophilum facilitated the iron oxidation and CO₂ fixation by At. ferrooxidans.

Keywords: Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans ; Acidiphilium acidophilum ; Iron oxidation; CO₂ fixation; cbbLS gene

Analysis of the surface proteins of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans strain SP5/1 and the new, pyrite-oxidizing Acidithiobacillus isolate HV2/2, and their possible involvement in pyrite oxidation by Andreas Klingl; Christine Moissl-Eichinger; Gerhard Wanner; Josef Zweck; Harald Huber; Michael Thomm; Reinhard Rachel (pp. 867-882).

Two strains of rod-shaped, pyrite-oxidizing acidithiobacilli, their cell envelope structure and their interaction with pyrite were investigated in this study. Cells of both strains, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans strain SP5/1 and the moderately thermophilic Acidithiobacillus sp. strain HV2/2, were similar in size, with slight variations in length and diameter. Two kinds of cell appendages were observed: flagella and pili. Besides a typical Gram-negative cell architecture with inner and outer membrane, enclosing a periplasm, both strains were covered by a hitherto undescribed, regularly arranged 2-D protein crystal with p2-symmetry. In A. ferrooxidans, this protein forms a stripe-like structure on the surface. A similar surface pattern with almost identical lattice vectors was also seen on the cells of strain HV2/2. For the surface layer of both bacteria, a direct contact to pyrite crystals was observed in ultrathin sections, indicating that the S-layer is involved in maintaining this contact site. Observations on an S-layer-deficient strain show, however, that cell adhesion does not strictly depend on the presence of the S-layer and that this surface protein has an influence on cell shape. Furthermore, the presented data suggest the ability of the S-layer protein to complex Fe³⁺ ions, suggesting a role in the physiology of the microorganisms.

Keywords: Acidithiobacillus ; Thiobacillus ; Cell surface; S-layer; EPS; Pyrite; Electron microscopy; High-pressure freezing

Genome sequence analyses of two isolates from the recent Escherichia coli outbreak in Germany reveal the emergence of a new pathotype: Entero-Aggregative-Haemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EAHEC) by Elzbieta Brzuszkiewicz; Andrea Thürmer; Jörg Schuldes; Andreas Leimbach; Heiko Liesegang; Frauke-Dorothee Meyer; Jürgen Boelter; Heiko Petersen; Gerhard Gottschalk; Rolf Daniel (pp. 883-891).

The genome sequences of two Escherichia coli O104:H4 strains derived from two different patients of the 2011 German E. coli outbreak were determined. The two analyzed strains were designated E. coli GOS1 and GOS2 (German outbreak strain). Both isolates comprise one chromosome of approximately 5.31 Mbp and two putative plasmids. Comparisons of the 5,217 (GOS1) and 5,224 (GOS2) predicted protein-encoding genes with various E. coli strains, and a multilocus sequence typing analysis revealed that the isolates were most similar to the entero-aggregative E. coli (EAEC) strain 55989. In addition, one of the putative plasmids of the outbreak strain is similar to pAA-type plasmids of EAEC strains, which contain aggregative adhesion fimbrial operons. The second putative plasmid harbors genes for extended-spectrum β-lactamases. This type of plasmid is widely distributed in pathogenic E. coli strains. A significant difference of the E. coli GOS1 and GOS2 genomes to those of EAEC strains is the presence of a prophage encoding the Shiga toxin, which is characteristic for enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) strains. The unique combination of genomic features of the German outbreak strain, containing characteristics from pathotypes EAEC and EHEC, suggested that it represents a new pathotype Entero-Aggregative-Haemorrhagic E scherichia c oli (EAHEC).

Keywords: EHEC outbreak; EAHEC; Genome sequencing; Pathotype; Genome evolution

Efficient electron transfer from hydrogen to benzyl viologen by the [NiFe]-hydrogenases of Escherichia coli is dependent on the coexpression of the iron–sulfur cluster-containing small subunit by Constanze Pinske; Sara Krüger; Basem Soboh; Christian Ihling; Martin Kuhns; Mario Braussemann; Monique Jaroschinsky; Christopher Sauer; Frank Sargent; Andrea Sinz; R. Gary Sawers (pp. 893-903).

Escherichia coli can both oxidize hydrogen and reduce protons. These activities involve three distinct [NiFe]-hydrogenases, termed Hyd-1, Hyd-2, and Hyd-3, each minimally comprising heterodimers of a large subunit, containing the [NiFe] active site, and a small subunit, bearing iron–sulfur clusters. Dihydrogen-oxidizing activity can be determined using redox dyes like benzyl viologen (BV); however, it is unclear whether electron transfer to BV occurs directly at the active site, or via an iron–sulfur center in the small subunit. Plasmids encoding Strep-tagged derivatives of the large subunits of the three E. coli [NiFe]-hydrogenases restored activity of the respective hydrogenase to strain FTD147, which carries in-frame deletions in the hyaB, hybC, and hycE genes encoding the large subunits of Hyd-1, Hyd-2, and Hyd-3, respectively. Purified Strep-HyaB was associated with the Hyd-1 small subunit (HyaA), and purified Strep-HybC was associated with the Hyd-2 small subunit (HybO), and a second iron–sulfur protein, HybA. However, Strep-HybC isolated from a hybO mutant had no other associated subunits and lacked BV-dependent hydrogenase activity. Mutants deleted separately for hyaA, hybO, or hycG (Hyd-3 small subunit) lacked BV-linked hydrogenase activity, despite the Hyd-1 and Hyd-2 large subunits being processed. These findings demonstrate that hydrogenase-dependent reduction of BV requires the small subunit.

Keywords: [NiFe]-hydrogenase; Iron–sulfur cluster; Electron transfer; Hydrogen evolution; Hydrogen oxidation; Viologen dyes

Salivary enzymes and exhaled air affect Streptococcus salivarius growth and physiological state in complemented artificial saliva by P. Roger; S. Harn-Arsa; J. Delettre; C. Béal (pp. 905-910).

To better understand the phenomena governing the establishment of the oral bacterium Streptococcus salivarius in the mouth, the effect of some environmental factors has been studied in complemented artificial saliva, under oral pH and temperature conditions. Three salivary enzymes at physiological concentrations were tested: peroxidase, lysozyme and amylase, as well as injection of exhaled air. Injection of air containing 5% CO₂ and 16% O₂ induced a deleterious effect on S. salivarius K12, mainly by increasing redox potential. Addition of lysozyme slightly affected the physiological state of S. salivarius by altering membrane integrity. In contrast, peroxidase was not detrimental as it made it possible to decrease the redox potential. The addition of amylase reduced the specific growth rate of S. salivarius by formation of a complex with amylase and mucins, but led to high final biomass, as a result of enzymatic degradation of some nutrients. Finally, this work demonstrated that salivary enzymes had a slight impact on S. salivarius behaviour. It can thus be concluded that this bacterium was well adapted to in-mouth conditions, as it was able to resist certain salivary enzymes, even if tolerance to expired air was affected, as a result of an increased redox potential.

Keywords: Streptococcus salivarius ; Physiological state; Salivary enzymes; Artificial saliva; Redox potential; Growth rate

Sections

Personal tools

Archives of Microbiology (v.193, #12)

Sections

Personal tools

Local resources

Archives of Microbiology (v.193, #12)