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Microbial substrate preference dictated by energy demand, not supply.

ABSTRACT: Growth substrates that maximize energy yield are widely thought to be utilized preferentially by microorganisms. However, observed distributions of microorganisms and their activities often deviate from predictions based solely on thermodynamic considerations of substrate energy supply. Here we present observations of the bioenergetics and growth yields of a metabolically flexible, thermophilic strain of the archaeon Acidianus when grown autotrophically on minimal medium with hydrogen (H2) or elemental sulfur (S°) as an electron donor, and S° or ferric iron (Fe3+) as an electron acceptor. Thermodynamic calculations indicate that S°/Fe3+ and H2/Fe3+ yield three- and four-fold more energy per mol electron transferred, respectively, than the H2/S° couple. However, biomass yields in Acidianus cultures provided with H2/S° were eight-fold greater than when provided S°/Fe3+ or H2/Fe3+, indicating the H2/S° redox couple is preferred. Indeed, cells provided with all three growth substrates (H2, Fe3+, and S°) grew preferentially by reduction of S° with H2. We conclude that substrate preference is dictated by differences in the energy demand of electron transfer reactions in Acidianus when grown with different substrates, rather than substrate energy supply.

SUBMITTER: Amenabar MJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6443248 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Microbial substrate preference dictated by energy demand, not supply.

Amenabar Maximiliano J MJ Shock Everett L EL Roden Eric E EE Peters John W JW Boyd Eric S ES

Nature geoscience 20170703 8

Growth substrates that maximize energy yield are widely thought to be utilized preferentially by microorganisms. However, observed distributions of microorganisms and their activities often deviate from predictions based solely on thermodynamic considerations of substrate energy supply. Here we present observations of the bioenergetics and growth yields of a metabolically flexible, thermophilic strain of the archaeon <i>Acidianus</i> when grown autotrophically on minimal medium with hydrogen (H< ...[more]

PMID: 30944580

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Project description:In recent years, the environmental problems caused by excessive carbon emissions from energy sources have become increasingly serious, which not only aggravates the climate change caused by the greenhouse effect but also seriously restricts the sustainable development of Chinese economy. An attempt is made in this paper to use energy consumption method and input-output method to study the carbon emission structure of China's energy system and industry in 2015 from two perspectives, namely China's energy supply side and energy demand side, by taking into account the two factors of energy invest in gross capital formation and export. The results show that neglecting these two factors will lead to underestimation of intermediate use carbon emissions and overestimation of final use carbon emissions. On energy supply side, the carbon emission structure of China's energy system is still dominated by high-carbon energy (raw coal, coke, diesel, and fuel oil, etc.), accounting for more than 70% of total energy carbon emissions; on the contrary, the natural gas such as clean energy accounts for only 3.45% of total energy carbon emissions, indicating that the energy consumption structure optimization and emission reduction gap of China's energy supply side are still substantial. On energy demand side, the final use (direct consumption by residents and government) produces less carbon emissions, while the intermediate use (production by enterprises) produces more than 90% of the total energy carbon emissions. Fossil energy, power sector, heavy industry, chemical industry, and transportation belong to industries with larger carbon emissions and lower carbon emission efficiency, while agriculture, construction, light industry, and service belong to industries with fewer carbon emissions and higher carbon emission efficiency. This means that the optimization of industrial structure is conducive to slowing down the growth of energy carbon emissions on the demand side.

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Microbial substrate preference dictated by energy demand, not supply.

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Microbial substrate preference dictated by energy demand, not supply.

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