scholarly journals Reduction of Soluble Iron and Reductive Dissolution of Ferric Iron-Containing Minerals by Moderately Thermophilic Iron-Oxidizing Bacteria

1998 ◽  
Vol 64 (6) ◽  
pp. 2181-2186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toni A. M. Bridge ◽  
D. Barrie Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Iron Reduction ◽  
Ferric Iron ◽  
Bacterial Species ◽  
Ferric Hydroxide ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Reductive Dissolution ◽  
Iron Cycling ◽  
Moderately Thermophilic ◽  
Iron Oxidizing Bacteria ◽  
Moderate Thermophiles

ABSTRACT Five moderately thermophilic iron-oxidizing bacteria, including representative strains of the three classified species (Sulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidans, Sulfobacillus acidophilus, and Acidimicrobium ferrooxidans), were shown to be capable of reducing ferric iron to ferrous iron when they were grown under oxygen limitation conditions. Iron reduction was most readily observed when the isolates were grown as mixotrophs or heterotrophs with glycerol as an electron donor; in addition, some strains were able to couple the oxidation of tetrathionate to the reduction of ferric iron. Cycling of iron between the ferrous and ferric states was observed during batch culture growth in unshaken flasks incubated under aerobic conditions, although the patterns of oxidoreduction of iron varied in different species of iron-oxidizing moderate thermophiles and in strains of a single species (S. acidophilus). All three bacterial species were able to grow anaerobically with ferric iron as a sole electron acceptor; the growth yields correlated with the amount of ferric iron reduced when the isolates were grown in the absence of oxygen. One of the moderate thermophiles (identified as a strain of S. acidophilus) was able to bring about the reductive dissolution of three ferric iron-containing minerals (ferric hydroxide, jarosite, and goethite) when it was grown under restricted aeration conditions with glycerol as a carbon and energy source. The significance of iron reduction by moderately thermophilic iron oxidizers in both environmental and applied contexts is discussed.

scholarly journals Iron-Oxidizing Bacteria Are Associated with Ferric Hydroxide Precipitates (Fe-Plaque) on the Roots of Wetland Plants

1999 ◽  
Vol 65 (6) ◽  
pp. 2758-2761 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Emerson ◽  
Johanna V. Weiss ◽  
J. Patrick Megonigal
Keyword(s):  
Ferric Hydroxide ◽  
Root Systems ◽  
Wetland Plants ◽  
Positive Correlation ◽  
Cell Numbers ◽  
Iron Oxidizing Bacteria ◽  
Soil Solutions ◽  
Fe Plaque ◽  
Ph Range

ABSTRACT The presence of Fe-oxidizing bacteria in the rhizosphere of four different species of wetland plants was investigated in a diverse wetland environment that had Fe(II) concentrations ranging from tens to hundreds of micromoles per liter and a pH range of 3.5 to 6.8. Enrichments for neutrophilic, putatively lithotrophic Fe-oxidizing bacteria were successful on roots from all four species; acidophilic Fe-oxidizing bacteria were enriched only on roots from plants whose root systems were exposed to soil solutions with a pH of <4. InSagittaria australis there was a positive correlation (P < 0.01) between cell numbers and the total amount of Fe present; the same correlation was not found for Leersia oryzoides. These results present the first evidence for culturable Fe-oxidizing bacteria associated with Fe-plaque in the rhizosphere.

scholarly journals Common adaptive strategies underlie within-host evolution of bacterial pathogens

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yair E Gatt ◽  
Hanah Margalit
Keyword(s):  
Bacterial Infections ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Bacterial Species ◽  
Adaptive Strategies ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Adaptive Strategy ◽  
Host Immune System ◽  
Glycerol Phosphate ◽  
Genomic Changes ◽  
Virulence Attenuation

Abstract Within-host adaptation is a hallmark of chronic bacterial infections, involving substantial genomic changes. Recent large-scale genomic data from prolonged infections allow the examination of adaptive strategies employed by different pathogens and open the door to investigate whether they converge towards similar strategies. Here, we compiled extensive data of whole-genome sequences of bacterial isolates belonging to miscellaneous species sampled at sequential time points during clinical infections. Analysis of these data revealed that different species share some common adaptive strategies, achieved by mutating various genes. While the same genes were often mutated in several strains within a species, different genes related to the same pathway, structure or function were changed in other species utilizing the same adaptive strategy (e.g. mutating flagellar genes). Strategies exploited by various bacterial species were often predicted to be driven by the host immune system, a powerful selective pressure that is not species-specific. Remarkably, we find adaptive strategies identified previously within single species to be ubiquitous. Two striking examples are shifts from siderophore-based to heme-based iron scavenging (previously shown for Pseudomonas aeruginosa), and changes in glycerol-phosphate metabolism (previously shown to decrease sensitivity to antibiotics in Mycobacterium tuberculosis). Virulence factors were often adaptively affected in different species, indicating shifts from acute to chronic virulence and virulence attenuation during infection. Our study presents a global view on common within-host adaptive strategies employed by different bacterial species and provides a rich resource for further studying these processes.

scholarly journals Labour sharing promotes coexistence in atrazine degrading bacterial communities

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Loren Billet ◽  
Marion Devers ◽  
Nadine Rouard ◽  
Fabrice Martin-Laurent ◽  
Aymé Spor
Keyword(s):  
Bacterial Communities ◽  
Gene Loss ◽  
Bacterial Species ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Microbial Consortia ◽  
The Public ◽  
Herbicide Atrazine ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Multiple Species ◽  
Isolated Species

AbstractMicrobial communities are pivotal in the biodegradation of xenobiotics including pesticides. In the case of atrazine, multiple studies have shown that its degradation involved a consortia rather than a single species, but little is known about how interdependency between the species composing the consortium is set up. The Black Queen Hypothesis (BQH) formalized theoretically the conditions leading to the evolution of dependency between species: members of the community called ‘helpers’ provide publicly common goods obtained from the costly degradation of a compound, while others called ‘beneficiaries’ take advantage of the public goods, but lose access to the primary resource through adaptive degrading gene loss. Here, we test whether liquid media supplemented with the herbicide atrazine could support coexistence of bacterial species through BQH mechanisms. We observed the establishment of dependencies between species through atrazine degrading gene loss. Labour sharing between members of the consortium led to coexistence of multiple species on a single resource and improved atrazine degradation potential. Until now, pesticide degradation has not been approached from an evolutionary perspective under the BQH framework. We provide here an evolutionary explanation that might invite researchers to consider microbial consortia, rather than single isolated species, as an optimal strategy for isolation of xenobiotics degraders.

scholarly journals Orphan Genes Shared by Pathogenic Genomes Are More Associated with Bacterial Pathogenicity

mSystems ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Entwistle ◽  
Xueqiong Li ◽  
Yanbin Yin
Keyword(s):  
Bacterial Species ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
Open Reading Frames ◽  
Orphan Genes ◽  
Bacterial Pathogenicity ◽  
Therapeutic Drugs ◽  
New Genes ◽  
Its Gene ◽  
The Comparative Study

ABSTRACT Orphan genes (also known as ORFans [i.e., orphan open reading frames]) are new genes that enable an organism to adapt to its specific living environment. Our focus in this study is to compare ORFans between pathogens (P) and nonpathogens (NP) of the same genus. Using the pangenome idea, we have identified 130,169 ORFans in nine bacterial genera (505 genomes) and classified these ORFans into four groups: (i) SS-ORFans (P), which are only found in a single pathogenic genome; (ii) SS-ORFans (NP), which are only found in a single nonpathogenic genome; (iii) PS-ORFans (P), which are found in multiple pathogenic genomes; and (iv) NS-ORFans (NP), which are found in multiple nonpathogenic genomes. Within the same genus, pathogens do not always have more genes, more ORFans, or more pathogenicity-related genes (PRGs)—including prophages, pathogenicity islands (PAIs), virulence factors (VFs), and horizontal gene transfers (HGTs)—than nonpathogens. Interestingly, in pathogens of the nine genera, the percentages of PS-ORFans are consistently higher than those of SS-ORFans, which is not true in nonpathogens. Similarly, in pathogens of the nine genera, the percentages of PS-ORFans matching the four types of PRGs are also always higher than those of SS-ORFans, but this is not true in nonpathogens. All of these findings suggest the greater importance of PS-ORFans for bacterial pathogenicity. IMPORTANCE Recent pangenome analyses of numerous bacterial species have suggested that each genome of a single species may have a significant fraction of its gene content unique or shared by a very few genomes (i.e., ORFans). We selected nine bacterial genera, each containing at least five pathogenic and five nonpathogenic genomes, to compare their ORFans in relation to pathogenicity-related genes. Pathogens in these genera are known to cause a number of common and devastating human diseases such as pneumonia, diphtheria, melioidosis, and tuberculosis. Thus, they are worthy of in-depth systems microbiology investigations, including the comparative study of ORFans between pathogens and nonpathogens. We provide direct evidence to suggest that ORFans shared by more pathogens are more associated with pathogenicity-related genes and thus are more important targets for development of new diagnostic markers or therapeutic drugs for bacterial infectious diseases.

Reduction of Soluble and Solid Ferric Iron by Acidiphilium SJH

2007 ◽  
Vol 20-21 ◽  
pp. 497-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Vašková ◽  
Daniel Kupka
Keyword(s):  
Iron Reduction ◽  
Consumption Rate ◽  
Ferric Iron ◽  
Oxygen Transfer Rate ◽  
Oxygen Limitation ◽  
Co2 Production ◽  
Anaerobic Conditions ◽  
Terminal Electron Acceptor ◽  
Aerobic Conditions ◽  
Microaerobic Conditions

Facultative Fe(III)-reducing bacterium Acidiphilium SJH was incubated in media with ferric iron under various conditions with respect to oxygen availability for the growing cells. The bacteria oxidized organic substratum to carbon dioxide using oxygen and ferric iron as terminal electron acceptors. Ferric iron reduction was observed in all incubation modes. The distribution of reducing equivalents from the oxidation of organic carbon for the reduction of both O2 and Fe(III) was evaluated from CO2 production rate and O2 consumption rate. In fully aerobic conditions approximately 10 % of CO2 produced was coupled with reduction of Fe(III) as terminal electron acceptor. Under aerobic conditions, the ratio of CO2 produced to O2 consumed remained unaffected in a broad concentration range of dissolved oxygen. In the course of oxygen limitation (microaerobic conditions) the molar CO2 to O2 ratio increased from approx. 1 to 2 and even much more with respect to oxygen transfer rate during incubation. On the other hand no bacterial growth and extremely slow iron reduction was observed in obligatory anaerobic conditions in a reactor purged with either pure or CO2-enriched nitrogen.

scholarly journals Ferric Iron Reduction by Bacteria Associated with the Roots of Freshwater and Marine Macrophytes

1999 ◽  
Vol 65 (10) ◽  
pp. 4393-4398 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. M. King ◽  
Meredith A. Garey
Keyword(s):  
Iron Reduction ◽  
Ferric Iron ◽  
Sodium Molybdate ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Root Activity ◽  
In Vitro Assays ◽  
Freshwater Macrophytes ◽  
Marine Macrophytes ◽  
Marine Isolate

ABSTRACT In vitro assays of washed, excised roots revealed maximum potential ferric iron reduction rates of >100 μmol g (dry weight)−1 day−1 for three freshwater macrophytes and rates between 15 and 83 μmol (dry weight)−1 day−1 for two marine species. The rates varied with root morphology but not consistently (fine root activity exceeded smooth root activity in some but not all cases). Sodium molybdate added at final concentrations of 0.2 to 20 mM did not inhibit iron reduction by roots of marine macrophytes (Spartina alterniflora and Zostera marina). Roots of a freshwater macrophyte, Sparganium eurycarpum, that were incubated with an analog of humic acid precursors, anthroquinone disulfate (AQDS), reduced freshly precipitated iron oxyhydroxide contained in dialysis bags that excluded solutes with molecular weights of >1,000; no reduction occurred in the absence of AQDS. Bacterial enrichment cultures and isolates from freshwater and marine roots used a variety of carbon and energy sources (e.g., acetate, ethanol, succinate, toluene, and yeast extract) and ferric oxyhydroxide, ferric citrate, uranate, and AQDS as terminal electron acceptors. The temperature optima for a freshwater isolate and a marine isolate were equivalent (approximately 32°C). However, iron reduction by the freshwater isolate decreased with increasing salinity, while reduction by the marine isolate displayed a relatively broad optimum salinity between 20 and 35 ppt. Our results suggest that by participating in an active iron cycle and perhaps by reducing humic acids, iron reducers in the rhizoplane of aquatic macrophytes limit organic availability to other heterotrophs (including methanogens) in the rhizosphere and bulk sediments.

scholarly journals Vibrio cholerae VciB Mediates Iron Reduction

2017 ◽  
Vol 199 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric D. Peng ◽  
Shelley M. Payne
Keyword(s):  
Electron Transport ◽  
Vibrio Cholerae ◽  
Ferrous Iron ◽  
Electron Transport Chain ◽  
Iron Reduction ◽  
Iron Transport ◽  
Ferric Iron ◽  
Transport Systems ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Transport Chain

ABSTRACT Vibrio cholerae is the causative agent of the severe diarrheal disease cholera. V. cholerae thrives within the human host, where it replicates to high numbers, but it also persists within the aquatic environments of ocean and brackish water. To survive within these nutritionally diverse environments, V. cholerae must encode the necessary tools to acquire the essential nutrient iron in all forms it may encounter. A prior study of systems involved in iron transport in V. cholerae revealed the existence of vciB, which, while unable to directly transport iron, stimulates the transport of iron through ferrous (Fe2+) iron transport systems. We demonstrate here a role for VciB in V. cholerae in which VciB stimulates the reduction of Fe3+ to Fe2+, which can be subsequently transported into the cell with the ferrous iron transporter Feo. Iron reduction is independent of functional iron transport but is associated with the electron transport chain. Comparative analysis of VciB orthologs suggests a similar role for other proteins in the VciB family. Our data indicate that VciB is a dimer located in the inner membrane with three transmembrane segments and a large periplasmic loop. Directed mutagenesis of the protein reveals two highly conserved histidine residues required for function. Taken together, our results support a model whereby VciB reduces ferric iron using energy from the electron transport chain. IMPORTANCE Vibrio cholerae is a prolific human pathogen and environmental organism. The acquisition of essential nutrients such as iron is critical for replication, and V. cholerae encodes a number of mechanisms to use iron from diverse environments. Here, we describe the V. cholerae protein VciB that increases the reduction of oxidized ferric iron (Fe3+) to the ferrous form (Fe2+), thus promoting iron acquisition through ferrous iron transporters. Analysis of VciB orthologs in Burkholderia and Aeromonas spp. suggest that they have a similar activity, allowing a functional assignment for this previously uncharacterized protein family. This study builds upon our understanding of proteins known to mediate iron reduction in bacteria.

scholarly journals Reduction of Iron(III) Ions at Elevated Pressure by Acidophilic Microorganisms

2017 ◽  
Vol 262 ◽  
pp. 88-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Yong Zhang ◽  
Sabrina Hedrich ◽  
Axel Schippers
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Iron Reduction ◽  
Enrichment Culture ◽  
Elevated Pressure ◽  
Pressure Vessels ◽  
Ore Deposits ◽  
Sulfur Compounds ◽  
Cell Counting ◽  
Iron Cycling ◽  
Oxidation Of Sulfur Compounds

A composed mixed acidophilic, iron-oxidizing culture (FIGB) and a thermo-acidophilic enrichment culture (TK65) were used to evaluate microbial iron(III) reduction coupled to oxidation of reduced inorganic sulfur compounds (RISCs) under high pressure. Experiments were done in batch culture in high pressure vessels at 1 and 100 bar. Microbial abundance and activity were determined by measuring iron(II) concentration, direct cell counting, T-RFLP and quantitative real-time PCR. The data indicate that both cultures are able to reduce soluble iron(III) by oxidation of sulfur compounds under anaerobic conditions. At high pressure (100 bar) these acidophiles were capable of growing and microbial ferric iron reduction was only partially inhibited. These results indicate that acidophiles can be barotolerant and their activities are contributing to sulfur and iron cycling in anaerobic environments including deep ore deposits which is highly relevant for in situ leaching operations.

Reduction and Complexation of Copper in a Novel Bioreduction System Developed to Recover Base Metals from Mine Process Waters

2013 ◽  
Vol 825 ◽  
pp. 483-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabrina Hedrich ◽  
Chris du Plessis ◽  
Nelson Mora ◽  
D. Barrie Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Copper Sulfide ◽  
Iron Reduction ◽  
Elemental Sulfur ◽  
Ferric Iron ◽  
Sodium Sulfide ◽  
Base Metals ◽  
Processing Scheme ◽  
Step Process ◽  
Potential Alternative ◽  
Axenic Cultures

An integrated bio-processing scheme was devised and tested in the laboratory for recovering copper, or other base metals, from pregnant leach solutions (PLS) using a two-step process involving both iron-reduction, and sulfate-reduction for H2S generation and sulfide precipitation, as a potential alternative to conventional SX-EW. Reduction of ferric iron in the PLS was achieved using iron-reducingAcidithiobacillusspp. andSulfobacillus thermosulfidooxidansin column reactors containing elemental sulfur as electron donor. Analysis of the column reactor effluents showed not only that most of the ferric iron was reduced to ferrous, but also that all of the copper (II) had been reduced to copper (I), i.e. cuprous copper. This copper (I) appeared to be complexed as it was not oxidized when exposed to ferric iron nor precipitated as a copper-sulfide when exposed to either sodium sulfide or H2S. The data suggested that copper (II) was reduced and the resulting copper (I) complexed, with both reactions probably mediated by sulfur oxy-anions produced indirectly by the bacteria, in the anoxic sulfur column bioreactors. It was also noted that copper (I) produced chemically by reduction of copper (II) by hydroxylamine was more toxic to axenic cultures ofAcidithiobacillusspp. andSb. thermosulfidooxidansthan was the copper (I) in the column effluent liquors.

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