Cold Regulation of Genes Encoding Ion Transport Systems in the Oligotrophic Bacterium Caulobacter crescentus

Low-temperature stress is an important factor for nucleic acid stability and must be circumvented in order to maintain the basic cell processes, such as transcription and translation. The oligotrophic lifestyle presents further challenges to ensure the proper nutrient uptake and osmotic balance in an environment of slow nutrient flow.

Oligotrophic bacterium Hymenobacter latericoloratus CGMCC 16346 degrades the neonicotinoid imidacloprid in surface water

The intensive and extensive application of imidacloprid in agriculture has resulted in water pollution and risks to aquatic invertebrates. However, pure bacteria remediation of imidacloprid in surface water environments has not been studied. Here, we isolated an imidacloprid-degrading bacterium from a water environment, examined its imidacloprid degradation in pure culture and surface water, sequenced its genome, and compared its Clusters of Orthologous Groups (COG) protein categorization with that for another imidacloprid-degrading bacterium. The isolate was an obligate oligotrophic bacterium, Hymenobacter latericoloratus CGMCC 16346, which degraded imidacloprid via hydroxylation by co-metabolism in pure culture. Resting cells degraded 64.4% of 100 mg/L imidacloprid in 6 d in the presence of co-substrate maltose, and growing culture degraded 40.8% of imidacloprid in 10 d. H. latericoloratus CGMCC 16346 degraded imidacloprid in surface water without co-substrate supplementation and retained imidacloprid-degrading activity after 30 d. The half-life of imidacloprid in surface water was decreased from 173.3 d in the control to 57.8 d by CGMCC 16346 inoculation. Genome sequencing and COG analysis indicated that carbohydrate metabolism and transport, cell wall/membrane biogenesis, and defense mechanisms are enriched in H. latericoloratus CGMCC 16346 compared with the copiotrophic imidacloprid-degrading Pseudoxanthomonas indica CGMCC 6648, indicating that H. latericoloratus CGMCC 16346 is adapted to live in oligotrophic water environments and biofilms. H. latericoloratus CGMCC 16346 is a promising bioremediation agent for elimination of imidacloprid contamination from surface water.

Mechanisms of Resistance to the Contact-Dependent Bacteriocin CdzC/D inCaulobacter crescentus

ABSTRACTThe Cdz bacteriocin system allows the aquatic oligotrophic bacteriumCaulobacter crescentusto kill closely related species in a contact-dependent manner. The toxin, which aggregates on the surfaces of producer cells, is composed of two small hydrophobic proteins, CdzC and CdzD, each bearing an extended glycine-zipper motif, that together induce inner membrane depolarization and kill target cells. To further characterize the mechanism of Cdz delivery and toxicity, we screened for mutations that render a target strain resistant to Cdz-mediated killing. These mutations mapped to four loci, including a TonB-dependent receptor, a three-gene operon (namedzerRABforzipperenveloperesistance), andperA(forpentapeptideenveloperesistance). Mutations in thezerRABlocus led to its overproduction and to potential changes in cell envelope composition, which may diminish the susceptibility of cells to Cdz toxins. TheperAgene is also required to maintain a normal cell envelope, but our screen identified mutations that confer resistance to Cdz toxins without substantially affecting the cell envelope functions of PerA. We demonstrate that PerA, which encodes a pentapeptide repeat protein predicted to form a quadrilateral β-helix, localizes primarily to the outer membrane of cells, where it may serve as a receptor for the Cdz toxins. Collectively, these results provide new insights into the function and mechanisms of an atypical, contact-dependent bacteriocin system.IMPORTANCEBacteriocins are commonly used by bacteria to kill neighboring cells that compete for resources. Although most bacteriocins are secreted, the aquatic, oligotrophic bacteriumCaulobacter crescentusproduces a two-peptide bacteriocin, CdzC/D, that remains attached to the outer membranes of cells, enabling contact-dependent killing of cells lacking the immunity protein CdzI. The receptor for CdzC/D has not previously been reported. Here, we describe a genetic screen for mutations that confer resistance to CdzC/D. One locus identified,perA, encodes a pentapeptide repeat protein that resides in the outer membrane of target cells, where it may act as the direct receptor for CdzC/D. Collectively, our results provide new insight into bacteriocin function and diversity.

Complete Genome Sequence of Alteromonas stellipolaris LMG 21856, a Budding Brown Pigment-Producing Oligotrophic Bacterium Isolated from the Southern Ocean

Here, we report the complete genome sequence of Alteromonas stellipolaris LMG 21856, which was isolated from seawater collected from the Southern Ocean. A. stellipolaris LMG 21856 is a budding, psychrotrophic, brown pigment-producing, and oligotrophic bacterium . The complete genome of this bacterium contains 4,686,200 bp, with a G+C content of 43.6%.

Sphingomonas oligoaromativorans sp. nov., an oligotrophic bacterium isolated from a forest soil

A halo- and organo-sensitive oligotrophic bacterium, designated strain SY-6T, was isolated from humus forest soil at Gyeryong mountain in Korea. Cells of the strain were Gram-negative, strictly aerobic, non-motile rods and the strain formed yellow-pigmented colonies on 100-fold-diluted nutrient broth. Strain SY-6T grew at pH 6.0–7.0 (optimal growth at pH 7.0), at 10–37 °C (optimal growth at 28 °C) and at salinities of 0–0.5 % (w/v) NaCl, growing optimally at 0.01 % (w/v) NaCl. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, strain SY-6T was shown to belong to the genus Sphingomonas and showed the closest phylogenetic similarity to Sphingomonas polyaromaticivorans B2-7T (96.7 %). The major polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine and sphingoglycolipid. The predominant ubiquinone and polyamine were Q-10 and sym-homospermidine, respectively. The major fatty acids were C18 : 1ω7c and C16 : 0. The DNA G+C content of the novel isolate was 65.3 mol%. On the basis of the evidence from this polyphasic study, strain SY-6T represents a novel species of the genus Sphingomonas , for which the name Sphingomonas oligoaromativorans sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SY-6T ( = KACC 12948T = NBRC 105508T).

Extracellular gluco-oligosaccharide degradation by Caulobacter crescentus

The oligotrophic bacterium Caulobacter crescentus has the ability to metabolize various organic molecules, including plant structural carbohydrates, as a carbon source. The nature of β-glucosidase (BGL)-mediated gluco-oligosaccharide degradation and nutrient transport across the outer membrane in C. crescentus was investigated. All gluco-oligosaccharides tested (up to celloheptose) supported growth in M2 minimal media but not cellulose or CM-cellulose. The periplasmic and outer membrane fractions showed highest BGL activity, but no significant BGL activity was observed in the cytosol or extracellular medium. Cells grown in cellobiose showed expression of specific BGLs and TonB-dependent receptors (TBDRs). Carbonyl cyanide 3-chlorophenylhydrazone lowered the rate of cell growth in cellobiose but not in glucose, indicating potential cellobiose transport into the cell by a proton motive force-dependent process, such as TBDR-dependent transport, and facilitated diffusion of glucose across the outer membrane via specific porins. These results suggest that C. crescentus acquires carbon from cellulose-derived gluco-oligosaccharides found in the environment by extracellular and periplasmic BGL activity and TBDR-mediated transport. This report on extracellular degradation of gluco-oligosaccharides and methods of nutrient acquisition by C. crescentus supports a broader suite of carbohydrate metabolic capabilities suggested by the C. crescentus genome sequence that until now have not been reported.