Heat-shock sigma factor RpoH from Geobacter sulfurreducens

Expression of Genes and Proteins Involved in Arsenic Respiration and Resistance in Dissimilatory Arsenate-Reducing Geobacter sp. Strain OR-1

The reduction of arsenate [As(V)] to arsenite [As(III)] by dissimilatory As(V)-reducing bacteria, such as Geobacter spp., may play a significant role in arsenic release from anaerobic sediments into groundwater. The biochemical and molecular mechanisms by which these bacteria cope with this toxic element remain unclear. In this study, the expression of several genes involved in arsenic respiration (arr) and resistance (ars) was determined using Geobacter sp. strain OR-1, the only cultured Geobacter strain capable of As(V) respiration. In addition, proteins expressed differentially under As(V)-respiring conditions were identified by semiquantitative proteomic analysis. Dissimilatory As(V) reductase (Arr) of strain OR-1 was localized predominantly in the periplasmic space, and the transcription of its gene (arrA) was upregulated under As(V)-respiring conditions. The transcription of the detoxifying As(V) reductase gene (arsC) was also upregulated, but its induction required 500 times higher concentration of As(III) (500 μM) than did the arrA gene. Comparative proteomic analysis revealed that in addition to the Arr and Ars proteins, proteins involved in the following processes were upregulated under As(V)-respiring conditions: (i) protein folding and assembly for rescue of proteins with oxidative damage, (ii) DNA replication and repair for restoration of DNA breaks, (iii) anaplerosis and gluconeogenesis for sustainable energy production and biomass formation, and (iv) protein and nucleotide synthesis for the replacement of damaged proteins and nucleotides. These results suggest that strain OR-1 copes with arsenic stress by orchestrating pleiotropic processes that enable this bacterium to resist and actively metabolize arsenic.IMPORTANCE Dissimilatory As(V)-reducing bacteria, such as Geobacter spp., play significant roles in arsenic release and contamination in groundwater and threaten the health of people worldwide. However, the biochemical and molecular mechanisms by which these bacteria cope with arsenic toxicity remain unclear. In this study, it was found that both respiratory and detoxifying As(V) reductases of a dissimilatory As(V)-reducing bacterium, Geobacter sp. strain OR-1, were upregulated under As(V)-respiring conditions. In addition, various proteins expressed specifically or more abundantly in strain OR-1 under arsenic stress were identified. Strain OR-1 actively metabolizes arsenic while orchestrating various metabolic processes that repair oxidative damage caused by arsenic. Such information is useful in assessing and identifying possible countermeasures for the prevention of microbial arsenic release in nature.

The electrifying physiology of Geobacter bacteria, 30 years on

The family Geobacteraceae, with its only valid genus Geobacter, comprises deltaproteobacteria ubiquitous in soil, sediments, and subsurface environments where metal reduction is an active process. Research for almost three decades has provided novel insights into environmental processes and biogeochemical reactions not previously known to be carried out by microorganisms. At the heart of the environmental roles played by Geobacter bacteria is their ability to integrate redox pathways and regulatory checkpoints that maximize growth efficiency with electron donors derived from the decomposition of organic matter while respiring metal oxides, particularly the often abundant oxides of ferric iron. This metabolic specialization is complemented by versatile metabolic reactions, respiratory chains, and sensory networks that allow specific members to adaptively respond to environmental cues to integrate organic and inorganic contaminants in their oxidative and reductive metabolism, respectively. Thus, Geobacteraceae are important members of the microbial communities that degrade hydrocarbon contaminants under iron-reducing conditions and that contribute, directly or indirectly, to the reduction of radionuclides, toxic metals, and oxidized species of nitrogen. Their ability to produce conductive pili as nanowires for discharging respiratory electrons to solid-phase electron acceptors and radionuclides, or for wiring cells in current-harvesting biofilms highlights the unique physiological traits that make these organisms attractive biological platforms for bioremediation, bioenergy, and bioelectronics application. Here we review some of the most notable physiological features described in Geobacter species since the first model representatives were recovered in pure culture. We provide a historical account of the environmental research that has set the foundation for numerous physiological studies and the laboratory tools that had provided novel insights into the role of Geobacter in the functioning of microbial communities from pristine and contaminated environments. We pay particular attention to latest research, both basic and applied, that has served to expand the field into new directions and to advance interdisciplinary knowledge. The electrifying physiology of Geobacter, it seems, is alive and well 30 years on.

A Sinorhizobium meliloti RpoH-Regulated Gene Is Involved in Iron-Sulfur Protein Metabolism and Effective Plant Symbiosis under Intrinsic Iron Limitation

In Sinorhizobium meliloti, RpoH-type sigma factors have a global impact on gene expression during heat shock and play an essential role in symbiosis with leguminous plants. Using mutational analysis of a set of genes showing highly RpoH-dependent expression during heat shock, we identified a gene indispensable for effective symbiosis. This gene, designated sufT, was located downstream of the sufBCDS homologs that specify the iron-sulfur (Fe/S) cluster assembly pathway. The identified transcription start site was preceded by an RpoH-dependent promoter consensus sequence. SufT was related to a conserved protein family of unknown molecular function, of which some members are involved in Fe/S cluster metabolism in diverse organisms. A sufT mutation decreased bacterial growth in both rich and minimal media, tolerance to stresses such as iron starvation, and activities of some Fe/S cluster-dependent enzymes. These results support the involvement of SufT in SUF (sulfur mobilization) system-mediated Fe/S protein metabolism. Furthermore, we isolated spontaneous pseudorevertants of the sufT mutant with partially recovered growth; each of them had a mutation in rirA This gene encodes a global iron regulator whose loss increases the intracellular iron content. Deletion of rirA in the original sufT mutant improved growth and restored Fe/S enzyme activities and effective symbiosis. These results suggest that enhanced iron availability compensates for the lack of SufT in the maintenance of Fe/S proteins.

IMPORTANCE

Although RpoH-type sigma factors of the RNA polymerase are present in diverse proteobacteria, their role as global regulators of protein homeostasis has been studied mainly in the enteric gammaproteobacterium Escherichia coli In the soil alphaproteobacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti, the rpoH mutations have a strong impact on symbiosis with leguminous plants. We found that sufT is a unique member of the S. meliloti RpoH regulon; sufT contributes to Fe/S protein metabolism and effective symbiosis under intrinsic iron limitation exerted by RirA, a global iron regulator. Our study provides insights into the RpoH regulon function in diverse proteobacteria adapted to particular ecological niches and into the mechanism of conserved Fe/S protein biogenesis.

Proteome of Geobacter sulfurreducens in the presence of U(VI)

Geobacter species often play an important role in the in situ bioremediation of uranium-contaminated groundwater, but little is known about how these microbes avoid uranium toxicity. To evaluate this further, the proteome of Geobacter sulfurreducens exposed to 100 µM U(VI) acetate was compared to control cells not exposed to U(VI). Of the 1363 proteins detected from these cultures, 203 proteins had higher abundance during exposure to U(VI) compared with the control cells and 148 proteins had lower abundance. U(VI)-exposed cultures expressed lower levels of proteins involved in growth, protein and amino acid biosynthesis, as well as key central metabolism enzymes as a result of the deleterious effect of U(VI) on the growth of G. sulfurreducens. In contrast, proteins involved in detoxification, such as several efflux pumps belonging to the RND (resistance–nodulation–cell division) family, and membrane protection, and other proteins, such as chaperones and proteins involved in secretion systems, were found in higher abundance in cells exposed to U(VI). Exposing G. sulfurreducens to U(VI) resulted in a higher abundance of many proteins associated with the oxidative stress response, such as superoxide dismutase and superoxide reductase. A strain in which the gene for superoxide dismutase was deleted grew more slowly than the WT strain in the presence of U(VI), but not in its absence. The results suggested that there is no specific mechanism for uranium detoxification. Rather, multiple general stress responses are induced, which presumably enable Geobacter species to tolerate high uranium concentrations.

Transcription of Ehrlichia chaffeensis genes is accomplished by RNA polymerase holoenzyme containing either sigma 32 or sigma 70

Bacterial gene transcription is initiated by RNA polymerase containing a sigma factor. To understand gene regulation in Ehrlichia chaffeensis, an important tick-transmitted rickettsiae responsible for human monocytic ehrlichiosis, we initiated studies evaluating the transcriptional machinery of several genes of this organism. We mapped the transcription start sites of 10 genes and evaluated promoters of five genes (groE, dnaK, hup, p28-Omp14 and p28-Omp19 genes). We report here that the RNA polymerase binding elements of E. chaffeensis gene promoters are highly homologous for its only two transcription regulators, sigma 32 and sigma 70, and that gene expression is accomplished by either of the transcription regulators. RNA analysis revealed that although transcripts for both sigma 32 and sigma 70 are upregulated during the early replicative stage, their expression patterns remained similar for the entire replication cycle. We further present evidence demonstrating that the organism’s -35 motifs are essential to transcription initiations. The data suggest that E. chaffeensis gene regulation has evolved to support the organism’s growth, possibly to facilitate its intraphagosomal growth. Considering the limited availability of genetic tools, this study offers a novel alternative in defining gene regulation in E. chaffeensis and other related intracellular pathogens.

Phylogenetic classification of diverse LysR-type transcriptional regulators of a model prokaryote Geobacter sulfurreducens

The protein family of LysR-type transcriptional regulators (LTTRs) is highly abundant among prokaryotes. We analyzed 10,145 non-redundant microbial sequences with homology to eight LysR family regulators of a model prokaryote, Geobacter sulfurreducens, and employed phylogenetic tree inference for LTTR classification. We also analyzed the arrangement of genome clusters containing G. sulfurreducens LTTR genes and searched for LTTR regulatory motifs, suggesting likely regulatory targets of G. sulfurreducens LTTRs. This is the first study to date providing a detailed classification of LTTRs in the deltaproteobacterial family Geobacteraceae.

A genetic system for Geobacter metallireducens: role of the flagellin and pilin in the reduction of Fe(III) oxide

Geobacter metallireducens is an important model organism for many novel aspects of extracellular electron exchange and the anaerobic degradation of aromatic compounds, but studies of its physiology have been limited by a lack of techniques for gene deletion and replacement. Therefore, a genetic system was developed for G. metallireducens by making a number of modifications in the previously described approach for homologous recombination in Geobacter sulfurreducens. Critical modifications included, among others, a 3.5-fold increased in the quantity of electrotransformed linear DNA and the harvesting of cells at early-log. The Cre-lox recombination system was used to remove an antibiotic resistance cassette from the G. metallireducens chromosome permitting the generation of multiple mutations in the same strain. Deletion of the gene fliC, which encodes the flagellin protein, resulted in a strain that did not produce flagella, was non-motile, and was defective for the reduction of insoluble Fe(III). Deletion of pilA, which encodes the structural protein of the type IV pili, inhibited the production of lateral pili as well as Fe(III) oxide reduction and electron transfer to an electrode. These results demonstrate the importance of flagella and pili in the reduction of insoluble Fe(III) by G. metallireducens and provide methods for additional genetic-based approaches for the study of G. metallireducens.

Geobacter: the microbe electric's physiology, ecology, and practical applications

Geobacter species specialize in making electrical contacts with extracellular electron acceptors and other organisms. This permits Geobacter species to fill important niches in a diversity of anaerobic environments. Geobacter species appear to be the primary agents for coupling the oxidation of organic compounds to the reduction of insoluble Fe(III) and Mn(IV) oxides in many soils and sediments, a process of global biogeochemical significance. Some Geobacter species can anaerobically oxidize aromatic hydrocarbons and play an important role in aromatic hydrocarbon removal from contaminated aquifers. The ability of Geobacter species to reductively precipitate uranium and related contaminants has led to the development of bioremediation strategies for contaminated environments. Geobacter species produce higher current densities than any other known organism in microbial fuel cells and are common colonizers of electrodes harvesting electricity from organic wastes and aquatic sediments. Direct interspecies electron exchange between Geobacter species and syntrophic partners appears to be an important process in anaerobic wastewater digesters. Functional and comparative genomic studies have begun to reveal important aspects of Geobacter physiology and regulation, but much remains unexplored. Quantifying key gene transcripts and proteins of subsurface Geobacter communities has proven to be a powerful approach to diagnose the in situ physiological status of Geobacter species during groundwater bioremediation. The growth and activity of Geobacter species in the subsurface and their biogeochemical impact under different environmental conditions can be predicted with a systems biology approach in which genome-scale metabolic models are coupled with appropriate physical/chemical models. The proficiency of Geobacter species in transferring electrons to insoluble minerals, electrodes, and possibly other microorganisms can be attributed to their unique "microbial nanowires," pili that conduct electrons along their length with metallic-like conductivity. Surprisingly, the abundant c-type cytochromes of Geobacter species do not contribute to this long-range electron transport, but cytochromes are important for making the terminal electrical connections with Fe(III) oxides and electrodes and also function as capacitors, storing charge to permit continued respiration when extracellular electron acceptors are temporarily unavailable. The high conductivity of Geobacter pili and biofilms and the ability of biofilms to function as supercapacitors are novel properties that might contribute to the field of bioelectronics. The study of Geobacter species has revealed a remarkable number of microbial physiological properties that had not previously been described in any microorganism. Further investigation of these environmentally relevant and physiologically unique organisms is warranted.

Genome-wide analysis of the RpoN regulon in Geobacter sulfurreducens

BACKGROUND

The role of the RNA polymerase sigma factor RpoN in regulation of gene expression in Geobacter sulfurreducens was investigated to better understand transcriptional regulatory networks as part of an effort to develop regulatory modules for genome-scale in silico models, which can predict the physiological responses of Geobacter species during groundwater bioremediation or electricity production.

RESULTS

An rpoN deletion mutant could not be obtained under all conditions tested. In order to investigate the regulon of the G. sulfurreducens RpoN, an RpoN over-expression strain was made in which an extra copy of the rpoN gene was under the control of a taclac promoter. Combining both the microarray transcriptome analysis and the computational prediction revealed that the G. sulfurreducens RpoN controls genes involved in a wide range of cellular functions. Most importantly, RpoN controls the expression of the dcuB gene encoding the fumarate/succinate exchanger, which is essential for cell growth with fumarate as the terminal electron acceptor in G. sulfurreducens. RpoN also controls genes, which encode enzymes for both pathways of ammonia assimilation that is predicted to be essential under all growth conditions in G. sulfurreducens. Other genes that were identified as part of the RpoN regulon using either the computational prediction or the microarray transcriptome analysis included genes involved in flagella biosynthesis, pili biosynthesis and genes involved in central metabolism enzymes and cytochromes involved in extracellular electron transfer to Fe(III), which are known to be important for growth in subsurface environment or electricity production in microbial fuel cells. The consensus sequence for the predicted RpoN-regulated promoter elements is TTGGCACGGTTTTTGCT.

CONCLUSION

The G. sulfurreducens RpoN is an essential sigma factor and a global regulator involved in a complex transcriptional network controlling a variety of cellular processes.

Insights into genes involved in electricity generation in Geobacter sulfurreducens via whole genome microarray analysis of the OmcF-deficient mutant

Geobacter sulfurreducens effectively produces electricity in microbial fuel cells by oxidizing acetate with an electrode serving as the sole electron acceptor. Deletion of the gene encoding OmcF, a monoheme outer membrane c-type cytochrome, substantially decreased current production. Previous studies demonstrated that inhibition of Fe(III) reduction in the OmcF-deficient mutant could be attributed to poor transcription of the gene for OmcB, an outer membrane c-type cytochrome that is required for Fe(III) reduction. However, a mutant in which omcB was deleted produced electricity as well as wild type. Microarray analysis of the OmcF-deficient mutant versus the wild type revealed that many of the genes with the greatest decreases in transcript levels were genes whose expression was previously reported to be upregulated in cells grown with an electrode as the sole electron acceptor. These included genes with putative functions related to metal efflux and/or type I secretion and two hypothetical proteins. The outer membrane cytochromes, OmcS and OmcE, which previous studies have demonstrated are required for optimal current generation, were not detected on the outer surface of the OmcF-deficient mutant even though the omcS and omcE genes were still transcribed, suggesting that the putative secretion system could be involved in the export of outer membrane proteins necessary for electron transfer to the fuel cell anode. These results suggest that the requirement for OmcF for optimal current production is not because OmcF is directly involved in extracellular electron transfer but because OmcF is required for the appropriate transcription of other genes either directly or indirectly involved in electricity production.