Leong-Keat Chan

Functional Analysis of Three Sulfide:Quinone Oxidoreductase Homologs in Chlorobaculum tepidum

Sulfide:quinone oxidoreductase (SQR) catalyzes sulfide oxidation during sulfide-dependent chemo- and phototrophic growth in bacteria. The green sulfur bacterium Chlorobaculum tepidum (formerly Chlorobium tepidum) can grow on sulfide as the sole electron donor and sulfur source. C. tepidum contains genes encoding three SQR homologs: CT0117, CT0876, and CT1087. This study examined which, if any, of the SQR homologs possess sulfide-dependent ubiquinone reduction activity and are required for growth on sulfide. In contrast to CT0117 and CT0876, transcripts of CT1087 were detected only when cells actively oxidized sulfide. Mutation of CT0117 or CT1087 in C. tepidum decreased SQR activity in membrane fractions, and the CT1087 mutant could not grow with >or=6 mM sulfide. Mutation of both CT0117 and CT1087 in C. tepidum completely abolished SQR activity, and the double mutant failed to grow with >or=4 mM sulfide. A C-terminal His(6)-tagged CT1087 protein was membrane localized, as was SQR activity. Epitope-tagged CT1087 was detected only when sulfide was actively consumed by cells. Recombinantly produced CT1087 and CT0117 proteins had SQR activity, while CT0876 did not. In summary, we conclude that, under the conditions tested, both CT0117 and CT1087 function as SQR proteins in C. tepidum. CT0876 may support the growth of C. tepidum at low sulfide concentrations, but no evidence was found for SQR activity associated with this protein.

A genomic region required for phototrophic thiosulfate oxidation in the green sulfur bacterium Chlorobium tepidum (syn. Chlorobaculum tepidum).

The specific enzymes employed by Chlorobium tepidum for the anaerobic oxidation of thiosulfate, sulfide and elemental sulfur during anoxygenic photosynthesis are not well defined. In particular, it is unclear how C. tepidum completely oxidizes thiosulfate. A C. tepidum genomic region, encoding a putative quinone-interacting membrane-bound oxidoreductase (Qmo) complex (CT0866-0868), hypothetical proteins (CT0869-0875) and a sulfide : quinone oxidoreductase (SQR) homologue (CT0876), was analysed for its role in anaerobic sulfur oxidation. Transcripts of genes encoding the Qmo complex, which is similar to archaeal heterodisulfide reductases, were detected by RT-PCR only while sulfide or elemental sulfur were being oxidized, whereas the SQR homologue and CT0872 were expressed during thiosulfate oxidation and into early stationary phase. A mutant of C. tepidum was obtained in which the region between CT0868 and CT0876 was replaced by a transposon insertion resulting in the truncation or deletion of nine genes. This strain, C5, was completely defective for growth on thiosulfate as the sole electron donor in C. tepidum, but only slightly defective for growth on sulfide or thiosulfate plus sulfide. Strain C5 did not oxidize thiosulfate and also displayed a defect in acetate assimilation under all growth conditions. A gene of unknown function, CT0872, deleted in strain C5 that is conserved in chemolithotrophic sulfur-oxidizing bacteria and archaea is the most likely candidate for the thiosulfate oxidation phenotype observed in this strain. The defect in acetate assimilation may be explained by deletion of CT0874, which encodes a homologue of 3-oxoacyl acyl carrier protein synthase.

Transcriptional Changes Underlying Elemental Stoichiometry Shifts in a Marine Heterotrophic Bacterium

Marine bacteria drive the biogeochemical processing of oceanic dissolved organic carbon (DOC), a 750-Tg C reservoir that is a critical component of the global C cycle. Catabolism of DOC is thought to be regulated by the biomass composition of heterotrophic bacteria, as cells maintain a C:N:P ratio of ∼50:10:1 during DOC processing. Yet a complicating factor in stoichiometry-based analyses is that bacteria can change the C:N:P ratio of their biomass in response to resource composition. We investigated the physiological mechanisms of resource-driven shifts in biomass stoichiometry in continuous cultures of the marine heterotrophic bacterium Ruegeria pomeroyi (a member of the Roseobacter clade) under four element limitation regimes (C, N, P, and S). Microarray analysis indicated that the bacterium scavenged for alternate sources of the scarce element when cells were C-, N-, or P-limited; reworked the ratios of biomolecules when C- and P- limited; and exerted tighter control over import/export and cytoplasmic pools when N-limited. Under S limitation, a scenario not existing naturally for surface ocean microbes, stress responses dominated transcriptional changes. Resource-driven changes in C:N ratios of up to 2.5-fold and in C:P ratios of up to sixfold were measured in R. pomeroyi biomass. These changes were best explained if the C and P content of the cells was flexible in the face of shifting resources but N content was not, achieved through the net balance of different transcriptional strategies. The cellular-level metabolic trade-offs that govern biomass stoichiometry in R. pomeroyi may have implications for global carbon cycling if extendable to other heterotrophic bacteria. Strong homeostatic responses to N limitation by marine bacteria would intensify competition with autotrophs. Modification of cellular inventories in C- and P-limited heterotrophs would vary the elemental ratio of particulate organic matter sequestered in the deep ocean.

Genetic and Proteomic Studies of Sulfur Oxidation in Chlorobium tepidum (syn. Chlorobaculum tepidum)

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Sulfur Oxidation in Chlorobium tepidum (syn. Chlorobaculum tepidum): Genetic and Proteomic Analyses

Chlorobium tepidum (syn. Chlorobaculum tepidum) has become the model system of choice for understanding the unique biological attributes of the green sulfur bacteria, the Chlorobiaceae. This chapter describes how genome sequence enabled genetic and proteomic approaches are being applied to understand pathways of anaerobic sulfur oxidation in C. tepidum. Reduced sulfur compounds are the sole source of exogenous reductant that C. tepidum utilizes to drive all anabolic pathways necessary for cellular growth, including carbon and nitrogen fixation. The stoichiometries of sulfur-compound conversions in batch cultures confirm that sulfide oxidation occurs via extracellular elemental sulfur. No intermediate is apparent for the oxidation of thiosulfate to sulfate, but thiosulfate oxidation appears to be stimulated when cells are grown autotrophically. Mutation of predicted sulfur oxidation genes leads to pleiotropic phenotypes that appear to affect the organization of photopigments in cells, suggesting that sulfur oxidation and light harvesting are tightly integrated processes in C. tepidum. In concert with genetic approaches, proteomics coupled with subcellular fractionation is being used to identify proteins that are potentially involved in the oxidation of extracellular elemental sulfur. Observations on the next generation of genetic techniques to augment those that currently exist in C. tepidum and to extend proteomic observations are presented throughout.

Experimental Identification of Small Non-Coding RNAs in the Model Marine Bacterium Ruegeria pomeroyi DSS-3

In oligotrophic ocean waters where bacteria are often subjected to chronic nutrient limitation, community transcriptome sequencing has pointed to the presence of highly abundant small RNAs (sRNAs). The role of sRNAs in regulating response to nutrient stress was investigated in a model heterotrophic marine bacterium Ruegeria pomeroyi grown in continuous culture under carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) limitation. RNAseq analysis identified 99 putative sRNAs. Sixty-nine were cis-encoded and located antisense to a presumed target gene. Thirty were trans-encoded and initial target prediction was performed computationally. The most prevalent functional roles of genes anti-sense to the cis-sRNAs were transport, cell-cell interactions, signal transduction, and transcriptional regulation. Most sRNAs were transcribed equally under both C and N limitation, and may be involved in a general stress response. However, 14 were regulated differentially between the C and N treatments and may respond to specific nutrient limitations. A network analysis of the predicted target genes of the R. pomeroyi cis-sRNAs indicated that they average fewer connections than typical protein-encoding genes, and appear to be more important in peripheral or niche-defining functions encoded in the pan genome.

Bromodeoxyuridine labelling and fluorescence-activated cell sorting of polyamine-transforming bacterioplankton in coastal seawater.

Polyamines (PAs) are a group of nitrogen-rich dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) compounds that are ubiquitously distributed in marine environments. To identify bacteria that are involved in PA transformations, coastal bacterioplankton microcosms were amended with a single PA model compound, i.e. putrescine (PUT) or spermidine (SPD), or with no addition as controls (CTRs). Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) was added to all the microcosms to label newly synthesized DNAs. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis indicated significant increases in numbers of total cells and cells with both high and low levels of BrdU incorporation in the PUT and SPD microcosms, but not in the CTRs. 16S rDNA pyrotag sequencing of FACS-sorted cells indicated that PUT- and SPD-transforming bacteria were composed similarly of a diverse group of taxa affiliated with Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria (especially Roseobacter of its alpha lineage). Broad taxonomic distribution of PA-transforming bacteria was also indicated by the abundance and distribution of PA transporter gene homologues in a survey of sequenced marine bacterial genomes. Our results suggest that PAs may be common DON substrates for marine bacterioplankton, in line with the hypothesis that bacterially mediated PA transformation accounts for an important proportion of marine DON flux.