Project description:Wild type G. sulfurreducens DL1 strain (see Caccavo, F., Jr., D. J. Lonergan, D. R. Lovley, M. Davis, J. F. Stolz, and M. J. McInerney. 1994. Geobacter sulfurreducens sp. nov., a hydrogen- and acetate-oxidizing dissimilatory metal-reducing microorganism. Appl Environ Microbiol 60:3752-9. see also Coppi, M. V., C. Leang, S. J. Sandler, and D. R. Lovley. 2001. Development of a genetic system for Geobacter sulfurreducens. Appl Environ Microbiol 67:3180-7.) and DLCN16 mutant (.rpoS::Km) (see Nuñez, C., L. Adams, S. Childers, and D. R. Lovley. 2004. The RpoS sigma factor in the dissimilatory Fe(III)-reducing bacterium Geobacter sulfurreducens. J Bacteriol 186:5543-6.) were grown under anaerobic conditions at 30 °C in continuous culture with a 200 ml working volume as previously described (see Esteve-Nunez, A., M. Rothermich, M. Sharma, and D. Lovley. 2005. Growth of Geobacter sulfurreducens under nutrient-limiting conditions in continuous culture. Environ Microbiol 7:641-8.). Cells were cultured at a growth rate of 0.05 h-1, steady-state cell growth was obtained after 5 volume refills and was confirmed by a constant cell density and concentrations of fumarate and succinate. Acetate (5.5 mM) was the electron donor and the limiting substrate. The electron acceptor was fumarate (30mM). Three biological replicates of control and treatment cells were obtained to produce hybridizations for this experiment.
Project description:Wild type G. sulfurreducens DL1 strain (see Caccavo, F., Jr., D. J. Lonergan, D. R. Lovley, M. Davis, J. F. Stolz, and M. J. McInerney. 1994. Geobacter sulfurreducens sp. nov., a hydrogen- and acetate-oxidizing dissimilatory metal-reducing microorganism. Appl Environ Microbiol 60:3752-9. see also Coppi, M. V., C. Leang, S. J. Sandler, and D. R. Lovley. 2001. Development of a genetic system for Geobacter sulfurreducens. Appl Environ Microbiol 67:3180-7.) and DLCN16 mutant (.rpoS::Km) (see Nuñez, C., L. Adams, S. Childers, and D. R. Lovley. 2004. The RpoS sigma factor in the dissimilatory Fe(III)-reducing bacterium Geobacter sulfurreducens. J Bacteriol 186:5543-6.) were grown under anaerobic conditions at 30 °C in continuous culture with a 200 ml working volume as previously described (see Esteve-Nunez, A., M. Rothermich, M. Sharma, and D. Lovley. 2005. Growth of Geobacter sulfurreducens under nutrient-limiting conditions in continuous culture. Environ Microbiol 7:641-8.). Cells were cultured at a growth rate of 0.05 h-1, steady-state cell growth was obtained after 5 volume refills and was confirmed by a constant cell density and concentrations of Fe(II). Acetate (5.5 mM) was the electron donor and the limiting substrate. The electron acceptor was Fe(III)-citrate (60mM). Two biological replicates of control and treatment cells were obtained to produce hybridizations for this experiment.
Project description:Cable bacteria of the family Desulfobulbaceae form centimeter-long filaments comprising thousands of cells. They occur worldwide in the surface of aquatic sediments, where they connect sulfide oxidation with oxygen or nitrate reduction via long-distance electron transport. In the absence of pure cultures, we used single-filament genome amplification and metagenomics to retrieve draft genomes of three marine Candidatus Electrothrix and one freshwater Ca. Electronema species. These genomes contain >50% of unknown genes but still largely share their core genomic makeup with sulfate-reducing and sulfur-disproportionating Desulfobulbaceae, with few genes lost and 212 unique genes conserved among cable bacteria. Last common ancestor analysis indicated gene divergence and lateral gene transfer as equally important origins of these unique genes. With support from metaproteomic data of Ca. Electronema, the genomes suggest that cable bacteria oxidize sulfide by inversing the canonical sulfate reduction pathway and fix CO2 using the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway. Cable bacteria show limited organotrophic potential, may assimilate smaller organic acids and alcohols, fix N2, and synthesize polyphosphates and polyglucose as storage compounds; several of these traits were confirmed by cell-level experimental analyses. We propose a model for electron flow from sulfide to oxygen that involves periplasmic cytochromes, type IV pili as integral components of conductive periplasmic fibers, and periplasmic oxygen reduction. This model proposes that an active cable bacterium gains energy in the anodic, sulfide-oxidizing cells, while cells in the oxic zone flare off electrons through intense cathodic oxygen respiration without energy conservation; this peculiar form of multicellularity seems unparalleled in the microbial world.