Ferrous iron oxidation by sulfur-oxidizing Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and analysis of the process at the levels of transcription and protein synthesis
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2013 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Antonie van Leeuwenhoek International Journal of General and Molecular Microbiology |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10482-012-9872-2 |
| Field | Microbiology, virology |
| Keywords | Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans; elemental sulfur oxidation; ferrous iron oxidation; pyrite oxidation; proteomics; reverse-transcription quantitative PCR |
| Attached files | |
| Description | In contrast to iron-oxidizing Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, A. ferrooxidans from a stationary phase elemental sulfur-oxidizing culture exhibited a lag phase in pyrite oxidation, which is similar to its behavior during ferrous iron oxidation. The ability of elemental sulfur-oxidizing A. ferrooxidans to immediately oxidize ferrous iron or pyrite without a lag phase was only observed in bacteria obtained from growing cultures with elemental sulfur. However, these cultures that shifted to ferrous iron oxidation showed a low rate of ferrous iron oxidation while no growth was observed. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis was used for a quantitative proteomic analysis of the adaptation process when bacteria were switched from elemental sulfur to ferrous iron. A comparison of total cell lysates revealed 39 proteins whose increase or decrease in abundance was related to this phenotypic switching. However, only a few proteins were closely related to iron and sulfur metabolism. Reverse-transcription quantitative PCR was used to further characterize the bacterial adaptation process. The expression profiles of selected genes primarily involved in the ferrous iron oxidation indicated that phenotypic switching is a complex process that includes the activation of genes encoding a membrane protein, maturation proteins, electron transport proteins and their regulators. |
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