Salt requirements for membrane transport and solute retention in some moderate halophiles

Isolation and characterization of a moderately halophilic Marinobacter phage-host system from the Arabian Sea

Marinobacter is an ecologically important genus of Gammaproteobacteria found in diverse marine habitats, many species of which are capable of degrading hydrocarbons. In this study, we isolated a Marinobacter phage-host system from the surface waters of the Arabian Sea using enrichment culture methods, studied their growth characteristics and investigated the effect of salinity and nitrate concentrations on phage-host interactions. The bacterial isolate had maximum identity to Marinobacter salsuginis based on 16S rRNA similarities and was termed as Marinobacter sp., strain D1S9. It could tolerate up to 14% of NaCl with maximum growth at 11% NaCl. The host grew optimally between 35 and 40 °C and at pH 8. It had a generation time of 3.7 h with a mean growth rate of 0.27 h^-1. The phage infected the host forming clear, round plaques of 1-2 mm diameter. It had a narrow host range restricted to the strain Marinobacter D1S9. The latent period and burst size of the phage were estimated to be 30 min and 106 phages per infected cell, respectively. The phage had an adsorption rate of 3.4 × 10^-8 ml min^-1 and retained 40.4% of its adsorption efficiency at 16% NaCl with a maximum at 4% NaCl (76.1%). Inorganic nitrate was found to have a direct role in controlling host growth and phage burst size.

The transition from freshwater to marine iron-oxidizing bacterial lineages along a salinity gradient on the Sheepscot River, Maine, USA

Oxygen-dependent, neutrophilic iron-oxidizing bacteria (FeOB) are important drivers of iron transformations in marine and freshwater environments. Despite remarkable similarities in physiology and morphotype, known freshwater and marine FeOB are clustered in different classes of Proteobacteria; freshwater FeOB in the Betaproteobacteria and marine FeOB in the Zetaproteobacteria. To determine effects of salinity on these microbes, we examined the mineral biosignatures and molecular ecology of bacteria in FeOB mats collected along an estuarine salinity gradient. Light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy analyses showed the presence of iron oxide stalk and sheath structures in both freshwater and saline iron mats. Results of tagged pyrosequencing, quantitative PCR and fluorescent in situ hybridization, all based on the small subunit rRNA gene, confirmed Zetaproteobacteria were not present in freshwater mats, but were in saline mats at salinities down to 5‰. Among the Betaproteobacteria, Leptothrix spp. were only found in the freshwater mat. Gallionella spp. were limited to freshwater and low salinity mats (< 5‰). Sideroxydans sp. were salt tolerant; however, their relative abundance decreased with increasing salinity. These results suggest salinity is important in shaping the population biology of iron mat communities, and some coexistence between marine and freshwater populations occurs in brackish waters.

Biology of moderately halophilic aerobic bacteria

The moderately halophilic heterotrophic aerobic bacteria form a diverse group of microorganisms. The property of halophilism is widespread within the bacterial domain. Bacterial halophiles are abundant in environments such as salt lakes, saline soils, and salted food products. Most species keep their intracellular ionic concentrations at low levels while synthesizing or accumulating organic solutes to provide osmotic equilibrium of the cytoplasm with the surrounding medium. Complex mechanisms of adjustment of the intracellular environments and the properties of the cytoplasmic membrane enable rapid adaptation to changes in the salt concentration of the environment. Approaches to the study of genetic processes have recently been developed for several moderate halophiles, opening the way toward an understanding of haloadaptation at the molecular level. The new information obtained is also expected to contribute to the development of novel biotechnological uses for these organisms.

The effect of suspending solution supplemented with marine cations on the oxidation of Biolog GN MicroPlateTM substrates by Vibrionaceae bacteria

Bacteria belonging to the family Vibrionaceae were suspended using saline and a solution prepared from a marine-cations supplement. The effect of this on the profile of oxidized substrates obtained when using Biolog GN MicroPlatesTM was investigated. Thirty-nine species belonging to the genera Aeromonas, Listonella, Photobacterium, and Vibrio were studied. Of the strains studied, species of Listonella, Photobacterium, and Vibrio could be expected to benefit from a marine-cations supplement that contained Na+, K+, and Mg2+. Bacteria that are not of marine origin are usually suspended in normal saline. Of the 39 species examined, 9 were not included in the Biolog data base and were not identified. Of the 30 remaining species, 50% were identified correctly using either of the suspending solutions. A further 20% were correctly identified only when suspended in saline. Three species, or 10%, were correctly identified only after suspension in the marine-cations supplemented solution. The remaining 20% of species were not correctly identified by either method. Generally, more substrates were oxidized when the bacteria had been suspended in the more complex salts solution. Usually, when identifications were incorrect, the use of the marine-cations supplemented suspending solution had resulted in many more substrates being oxidized. Based on these results, it would be preferable to use saline to suspend the cells when using Biolog for identification of species of Vibrionaceae. A salts solution containing a marine-cations supplement would be preferable for environmental studies where the objective is to determine profiles of substrates that the bacteria have the potential to oxidize. If identifications are done using marine-cations supplemented suspending solution, it would be advisable to include reference cultures to determine the effect of the supplement. Of the Vibrio andListonella species associated with human clinical specimens, 8 out of the 11 studied were identified correctly when either of the suspending solutions was used.Key words: Biolog, cations, salts, marine bacteria, Vibrionaceae.

The taxonomic significance of the growth response to Na+by strains ofVibrio

Eighty regional Vibrio strains were studied for their growth responses at 13 Na+concentrations. Using a chemically defined plating medium, together with a multipoint inoculation technique, approximately 45% of the strains showed a specific growth requirement for Na+. The remaining strains grew, with a lag period, on the basal medium that contained about 2 mM background Na+. Based on the growth responses to Na+, a numerical analysis was used to explore differences between the strains. A dendrogram was produced in which the strains were grouped into four major clusters. At an equivalent level of similarity the cluster composition was not significantly different from that shown in a second dendrogram that was based on standard tests recommended in the 9th edition of Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology. The study showed that, over a range of concentrations, the growth response to Na+was taxonomically significant for Vibrio strains.Key words: Vibrio, marine bacteria, Na+requirement, growth response.

The effect of NaCl on the growth of a Halomonas species: accumulation and utilization of compatible solutes

The effect of NaCl on growth and compatible solute utilization was investigated in a Halomonas species. Growth of Halomonas was observed in medium of low osmolarity (high water activity) when only 01 mM Na+ was present. However, lowering the water activity, by addition of KCl or sucrose, inhibited growth in this low-Na+ medium, but growth could be restored by the addition of NaCl. The bacterium could grow on glucose as the sole carbon source in up to 355 M NaCl and was shown also to metabolize glycine betaine. However NaCl concentrations greater than 2 M inhibited growth when glycine betaine was the sole carbon source. Glycine betaine was transported into the cells by a process stimulated by NaCl irrespective of whether the carbon source was glucose or glycine betaine. Cytoplasmic levels of glycine betaine were monitored throughout the growth cycle in 2 M NaCl medium with glycine betaine as sole carbon source. As the culture aged, glycine betaine was increasingly replaced by the tetrahydropyrimidine ectoine as the major cytoplasmic solute. The increased sensitivity to high NaCl concentrations when grown on glycine betaine may be due to the glycine betaine catabolic pathway enzymes being inhibited by the increasing external solute concentration.

Adaptive modifications in membranes of halotolerant and halophilic microorganisms

Halotolerant and halophilic microorganisms can grow in (hyper)saline environments, but only halophiles specifically require salt. Genotypic and phenotypic adaptations are displayed by halophiles; the halotolerants adapt phenotypically, but it is not established whether they show genotypic adaptation. This paper reviews the various strategies of haloadaptation of membrane proteins and lipids by halotolerant and halophilic microorganisms. Moderate halophiles and halotolerants adapt their membrane lipid composition by increasing the proportion of anionic lipids, often phosphatidylglycerol and/or glycolipids, which in the moderately halophilic bacterium Vibrio costicola appears to be part of an osmoregulatory response to minimize membrane stress at high salinities. Extreme halophiles possess typical archaebacterial ether lipids, which are genotypically adapted by having additional substitutions with negatively-charged residues such as sulfate. In contrast to the lipids, it is less clear whether membrane proteins are haloadapted, although they may be more acidic; very few depend on salt for their activity.

Electron-transport-driven sodium extrusion during methanogenesis from formaldehyde and molecular hydrogen by Methanosarcina barkeri

Methanogenesis from formaldehyde or formaldehyde + H2, as carried out by Methanosarcina barkeri, was strictly dependent on sodium ions whereas methane formation from methanol + H2 or methanol + formaldehyde was Na+-independent. This indicates that the reduction of formaldehyde to the formal redox level of methanol exhibits a Na+ requirement. During methanogenesis from formaldehyde, a delta pNa in the range of -62 mV to -80 mV was generated by means of a primary, electron-transport-driven sodium pump. This could be concluded from the following results obtained on cell suspensions of M. barkeri. 1. The addition of proton conductors or inhibitors of the Na+/H+ antiporter had no effect on sodium extrusion. 2. During methanogenesis from formaldehyde + H2 a delta psi of -60 mV to -70 mV was generated even in the presence of proton conductors. 3. ATPase inhibitors, applied in the presence of proton conductors, had no effect on primary sodium extrusion or generation of a delta psi. Evidence for a Na+-translocating ATPase could not be obtained.