THE DISTRIBUTION AND CHARACTERISTIC OF MICROORGANISMS INVOLVED IN THE DESTRUCTION OF HYDROCARBONS IN MARINE SEDIMENTS (LITERATURE REVIEW)

The review is devoted to the biodiversity of microorganisms capable of degrading oil hydrocarbons in sea deep sediments and their relationship with the accompanying microbiota, which includes sulfate-reducing and denitrifying prokaryotes. Particular attention is paid to the biodiversity of hydrocarbon-oxidizing bacteria, in particular thermo- and hyperthermophilic bacteria, in the areas of oil fields. Sulfate-reducing microorganisms are widespread in them. Some of them are capable not only of sulfate reduction, but also of hydrocarbon oxidation. Such microorganisms were generally classified in the Deltaproteobacterium class. The relationship between the number of oil-oxidizing and denitrifying microorganisms is most often presented in areas with a high anthropogenic load and in the coastal zone. Possible mechanisms of anaerobic oxidation of hydrocarbons and the coexistence of aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms in a single community are briefly considered.

Hydrogen-producing hyperthermophilic bacteria synthesized size-controllable fine gold nanoparticles with excellence for eradicating biofilm and antibacterial applications

An environment-friendly strategy for the controllable preparation of AuNPs is presented, which exhibited high peroxidase activity over a broad pH range.

Central Metabolic Pathways of Hyperthermophiles: Important Clues on how Metabolism Gives Rise to Life

Vital clues on life's origins within the galaxy exist here on present day Earth. Life is currently divided into the three domains Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya based on the phylogeny of small ribosomal subunit RNA (16S/18S) gene sequences. The domains are presumed to share a “last universal common ancestor” (LUCA). Hyperthermophilic bacteria and archaea, which are able to thrive at 80°C or higher, dominate the bottom of the tree of life and are thus suggested to be the least evolved, or most “ancient”. Geochemical data indicates that life first appeared on Earth approximately 3.8 billion years ago in a hot environment. Due to these considerations, hyperthermophiles represent the most appropriate microorganisms to investigate the origins of metabolism. The central biochemical pathway of gluconeogenesis/glycolysis (the Embden-Meyerhof pathway) which produces six carbon sugars from three carbon compounds is present in all organisms and can provide important hints concerning the early development of metabolism. Significantly, there are a number of striking deviations from the textbook canonical reaction sequence that are found, particularly in hyperthermophilic archaea. In this paper the phylogenetic istribution of enzymes of the pathway is detailed; overall, the distribution pattern provides strong evidence for the pathway to have developed from the bottom-up.