Pathways and microbiology of thiosulfate transformations and sulfate reduction in a marine sediment (kattegat, denmark)

Reductive and oxidative pathways of the sulfur cycle were studied in a marine sediment by parallel radiotracer experiments with SO(4), H(2)S, and S(2)O(3) injected into undisturbed sediment cores. The distributions of viable populations of sulfate- and thiosulfate-reducing bacteria and of thiosulfate-disproportionating bacteria were concurrently determined. Sulfate reduction occurred both in the reducing sediment layers and in oxidized and even oxic surface layers. The population density of sulfate-reducing bacteria was >10 cm in the oxic layer, high enough that it could possibly account for the measured rates of sulfate reduction. The bacterial numbers counted in the reducing sediment layers were 100-fold lower. The dominant sulfate reducers growing on acetate or H(2) were gas-vacuolated motile rods which were previously undescribed. The products of sulfide oxidation, which took place in both oxidized and reduced sediment layers, were 65 to 85% S(2)O(3) and 35 to 15% SO(4). Thiosulfate was concurrently oxidized to sulfate, reduced to sulfide, and disproportionated to sulfate and sulfide. There was a gradual shift from predominance of oxidation toward predominance of reduction with depth in the sediment. Disproportionation was the most important pathway overall. Thiosulfate disproportionation occurred only as cometabolism in the marine acetate-utilizing sulfate-reducing bacteria, which could not conserve energy for growth from this process alone. Oxidative and reductive cycling of sulfur thus occurred in all sediment layers with an intermediate "thiosulfate shunt" as an important mechanism regulating the electron flow.

Nitrate Reduction in a Sulfate-Reducing Bacterium, Desulfovibrio desulfuricans, Isolated from Rice Paddy Soil: Sulfide Inhibition, Kinetics, and Regulation

From the second-highest dilution in a most-probable-number dilution series with lactate and sulfate as substrates and rice paddy soil as the inoculum, a strain of Desulfovibrio desulfuricans was isolated. In addition to reducing sulfate, sulfite, and thiosulfate, the strain also reduced nitrate to ammonia. The latter process was studied in detail, since the ability to reduce nitrate was strongly influenced by the presence of sulfide. Sulfide inhibited both growth on nitrate and nitrate reduction. A 70% inhibition of the nitrate reduction rate was obtained at 127 muM sulfide, and growth was inhibited by 50% at approximately 320 muM sulfide and was not detectable above 700 muM sulfide. In contrast, sulfate reduction was not affected at concentrations of up to 5 mM. After growth with sulfate, an induction period of 2 to 4 days was needed before nitrate reduction started. When nitrate and sulfate were present simultaneously, only sulfate was reduced, except when sulfate was present at very low concentrations (4 muM). At higher sulfate concentrations (500 muM), nitrate reduction was temporarily halted. The affinity for nitrate uptake was extremely high (K(m) = 0.05 muM) compared with that for sulfate uptake (K(m) = 5 muM). Thus, at low nitrate concentrations this bacterium is favored relative to denitrifiers (K(m) = 1.8 to 13.7 muM) or other nitrate ammonifiers (e.g., Clostridium spp. [K(m) = 500 muM]).

Bacterial disproportionation of elemental sulfur coupled to chemical reduction of iron or manganese

A new chemolithotrophic bacterial metabolism was discovered in anaerobic marine enrichment cultures. Cultures in defined medium with elemental sulfur (S) and amorphous ferric hydroxide (FeOOH) as sole substrates showed intense formation of sulfate. Furthermore, precipitation of ferrous sulfide and pyrite was observed. The transformations were accompanied by growth of slightly curved, rod-shaped bacteria. The quantification of the products revealed that S was microbially disproportionated to sulfate and sulfide, as follows: 4S + 4H(2)O --> SO(4) + 3H(2)S + 2H. Subsequent chemical reactions between the formed sulfide and the added FeOOH led to the observed precipitation of iron sulfides. Sulfate and iron sulfides were also produced when FeOOH was replaced by FeCO(3). Further enrichment with manganese oxide, MnO(2), instead of FeOOH yielded stable cultures which formed sulfate during concomitant reduction of MnO(2) to Mn. Growth of small rod-shaped bacteria was observed. When incubated without MnO(2), the culture did not grow but produced small amounts of SO(4) and H(2)S at a ratio of 1:3, indicating again a disproportionation of S. The observed microbial disproportionation of S only proceeds significantly in the presence of sulfide-scavenging agents such as iron and manganese compounds. The population density of bacteria capable of S disproportionation in the presence of FeOOH or MnO(2) was high, > 10 cm in coastal sediments. The metabolism offers an explanation for recent observations of anaerobic sulfide oxidation to sulfate in anoxic sediments.

Complete oxidation of propionate, valerate, succinate, and other organic compounds by newly isolated types of marine, anaerobic, mesophilic, gram-negative, sulfur-reducing eubacteria

Anaerobic enrichment cultures with either propionate, succinate, lactate, or valerate and elemental sulfur and inocula from shallow marine or deep-sea sediments were dominated by rod-shaped motile bacteria after three transfers. By application of deep-agar dilutions, five eubacterial strains were obtained in pure culture and designated Kyprop, Gyprop, Kysw2, Gylac, and Kyval. All strains were gram negative and grew by complete oxidation of the electron donors and concomitant stoichiometric reduction of elemental sulfur to hydrogen sulfide. The isolates used acetate, propionate, succinate, lactate, pyruvate, oxaloacetate, maleate, glutamate, alanine, aspartate, and yeast extract. All isolates, except strain Gylac, used citrate as an electron donor but valerate was oxidized only by strain Kyval. Fumarate and malate were degraded by all strains without an additional electron donor or acceptor. Kyprop, Gyprop, and Gylac utilized elemental sulfur as the sole inorganic electron acceptor, while Kysw2 and Kyval also utilized nitrate, dimethyl sulfoxide, or Fe(III)-citrate as an electron acceptor.

[The question of cognitive activity in twins]

Cette étude nous a permis de mettre à jour les différents modes d'intéractions qu'une mère établit avec ses jumeaux, ainsi que les évolutions possibles qui en résultent. Mais, bien plus, nous avons modélisé la façon dont les jumeaux élaborent leurs structures de l'activité de connaissance en fonction des sollicitations du milieu, ainsi que l'interdépendance qui les caractérisent.

Grâce à des examens opératoires, réalisés sur une population de 14 couples âgés de 6 a 10 ans, nous avons mis à jour un décalage intra-couple au niveau de la genèse de ces mêmes structures de l'activité de connaissance. Nous nous sommes apercus que sur le plan de la genèse de l'organisation cognitive l'un des enfants a développé des structures figuratives, et l'autre des structures opératives lui permettant d'avoir une connaissance de la réalité plus étendue.

Les liens de dépendance, de fusion, unissant les jumeaux entre eux, pourraient être dus à un développement cognitif parasitaire. Ils génèrent un lien gémellaire à partir de défaillances structurales qui vont apparaître chez chacun d'eux, ce qui ne permet aucunement leur autonomisation réciproque.

Puisque des déficiences apparaissent dans les structures de l'activité de connaissance de ces enfants, les problèmes qu'ils recontrent pourraient trouver leur solution dans une remédiation cognitive opératoire.

Anaerobic degradation of methylmercaptan and dimethyl sulfide by newly isolated thermophilic sulfate-reducing bacteria

The complete oxidation of methylmercaptan (MSH) and dimethyl sulfide (DMS) with sulfate or nitrate as electron acceptors was observed in enrichment cultures and dilution series using thermophilic fermentor sludge as the inoculum. Three new strains of thermophilic sulfate reducers were isolated in pure culture (strains MTS5, TDS2, and SDN4). Strain MTS5 grew on MSH and strain TDS2 grew on DMS whereas strain SDN4 grew on either MSH or DMS. The cellular growth yields were 2.57 g (dry weight)/mol of MSH for strain MTS5 and 6.02 g (dry weight)/mol of DMS for strain TDS2. All strains used sulfate, sulfite, or thiosulfate as electron acceptors, but only strain SDN4 used nitrate. DMS and MSH were oxidized to CO2 and sulfide with either sulfate or nitrate as the electron acceptor. Sulfate was stoichiometrically reduced to sulfide while nitrate was reduced to ammonium. All strains were motile rods, required biotin for growth, lacked desulfoviridin, had DNA with G+C contents of 48 to 57 mol% and probably belonged to the genus Desulfotomaculum. This is the first report of the oxidation of MSH and DMS by pure cultures of sulfate-reducing bacteria.

Holophaga foetida gen. nov., sp. nov., a new, homoacetogenic bacterium degrading methoxylated aromatic compounds

A polyphasic approach was used in which genotypic and phenotypic properties of a gram-negative, obligately anaerobic, rod-shaped bacterium isolated from a black anoxic freshwater mud sample were determined. Based on these results, the name Holophaga foetida gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. This microorganism produced dimethylsulfide and methanethiol during growth on trimethoxybenzoate or syringate. The only other compounds utilized were pyruvate and trihydroxybenzenes such as gallate, phloroglucinol, or pyrogallol. The aromatic compounds were degraded to acetate. Although comparison of the signature nucleotide pattern of the five established subclasses of Proteobacteria with the 16S rDNA sequence of Holophaga foetida revealed a relationship to members of the delta-subclass, the phylogenetic position within the radiation of this class is so deep and dependent upon the number and selection of reference sequences that its affiliation to the Proteobacteria must be considered tentative. The type strain is H. foetida strain TMBS4 (DSM 6591).

Effect of acetylene on nitrous oxide reduction and sulfide oxidation in batch and gradient cultures of Thiobacillus denitrificans

Anaerobic enrichment cultures with H2S and N2O as substrates which were inoculated with a biofilm sample showed rapid growth and gas formation after 2 to 3 days at 27 degrees C. By using the deep-agar dilution technique, a pure culture was obtained. The strain was tentatively identified as Thiobacillus denitrificans. The isolate was used for batch and gradient culture studies under denitrifying conditions, oxidizing H2S with concomitant reduction of N2O to N2. In batch culture, oxidation of H2S was stepwise, with transient accumulation of elemental sulfur; the final oxidation product was SO4(2-). In gradient culture, there was no notable accumulation of elemental sulfur and microsensor measurements of H2S and N2O showed that H2S was oxidized directly to SO4(2-). In the presence of C2H2, however, oxidation of H2S stopped at the level of elemental sulfur and no SO4(2-) was produced in either batch or gradient cultures. This is a hitherto unknown inhibitory effect of C2H2. The inhibition is suggested to occur at the level of sulfite reductase, which catalyzes the oxidation of elemental sulfur to SO3(2-) in T. denitrificans. However, reduction of N2O in this strain was, surprisingly, not affected by C2H2. The isolate is the first chemolithoautotrophic organism shown to reduce N2O in the presence of C2H2. Denitrification in natural ecosystems is often quantified as N2O accumulation after C2H2 addition. However, the presence of large numbers of similar organisms with C2H2-insensitive N2O reduction could lead to underestimation of in situ rates.

Anaerobic degradation of aniline and dihydroxybenzenes by newly isolated sulfate-reducing bacteria and description of Desulfobacterium anilini

A new, rod-shaped, Gram-negative, non-sporing sulfate reducer (strain Ani1) was enriched and isolated from marine sediment with aniline as sole electron donor and carbon source. The strain degraded aniline completely to CO2 and NH3 with stoichiometric reduction of sulfate to sulfide. Strain Ani1 also degraded aminobenzoates and further aromatic and aliphatic compounds. The strain grew in sulfide-reduced mineral medium supplemented only with vitamin B12 and thiamine. Cells contained cytochromes, carbon monoxide dehydrogenase, and sulfite reductase P582, but no desulfoviridin. Strain Ani1 is described as a new species of the genus Desulfobacterium D. anilini. Marine enrichments with the three dihydroxybenzene isomers led to three different strains of sulfate-reducing bacteria; each of them could grow only with the isomer used for enrichment. Two strains isolated with catechol (strain Cat2) or resorcinol (strain Re10) were studied in detail. Both strains oxidized their substrates completely to CO2, and contained cytochromes, carbon monoxide dehydrogenase, and sulfite reductase P 582. Desulfoviridin was not present. Whereas the rod-shaped catechol oxidizer (strain Cat2) was able to grow on 18 aromatic compounds and several aliphatic substrates, the coccoid resorcinol-degrading bacterium (strain Re10) utilized only resorcinol, 2,4-dihydroxybenzoate and 1,3-cyclohexanedion. These strains could not be affiliated with existing species of sulfate-reducing bacteria. A further coccoid sulfate-reducing bacterium (strain Hy5) was isolated with hydroquinone and identified as a subspecies of Desulfococcus multivorans. Most-probable-number enumerations with catechol, phenol, and resorcinol showed relatively large numbers (10(4)-10(6) per ml) of aryl compound-degrading sulfate reducers in marine sediment samples.