Response to oxygen limitation in bacteria of the genus sulfobacillus

• Published in: Microbiology (New York) Vol. 79; no. 1; pp. 13 - 22
• Main Authors: Tsaplina, I.A, Zhuravlev, A.E, Egorova, M.A, Bogdanov, T.I, Krasil'nikova, E.N, Zakharchuk, L.M, Kondrat'ev, T.F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Dordrecht : SP MAIK Nauka/Interperiodica 01-02-2010; SP MAIK Nauka/Interperiodica
• Subjects: Bacteria; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Experimental Articles; Life Sciences; Medical Microbiology; Microbiology; Sulfobacillus; substrates; growth; respiration; iron oxidoreduction; aeration conditions; morphology
• ISSN: 0026-2617; 1608-3237
• DOI: 10.1134/S0026261710010029

For cultures of moderately thermophilic chemolithotrophic bacteria Sulfobacillus sibiricus N1 and SSO, S. thermosulfidooxidans subsp. asporogenes 41, and the thermotolerant strain S. thermotolerans Kr1 grown under forced aeration and in a high medium layer without aeration, growth characteristics, substrate consumption, and exometabolite formation were compared. Sulfobacilli grown under oxygen limitation exhibited greater generation time, longer growth period, cell yield decreased by from 40 to 85% (depending on the strain), suppressed cell respiration ( demonstrated for S. sibiricus N1 ), accumulation of exometabolites (acetate and propionate) in the medium, and emergence of resting forms. For strains N1, SSO, and Kr1, oscillations of Fe(II) and Fe(III) content in the medium were revealed. For S. sibiricus N1 and S. thermotolerans Kr1, grown under hypoxia (0.07% O₂ in the gas phase), coupling of substrate oxidation with Fe(III) reduction was revealed, as well as utilization of Fe(III) as an electron acceptor alternative to oxygen. The role of labile energy and constructive metabolism for survival of sulfobacilli under diverse conditions is discussed.