Prosthecae of Asticcacaulis biprosthecum: system for the study of membrane transport

Novel prosthecate bacteria from the candidate phylum Acetothermia

Members of the candidate phylum Acetothermia are globally distributed and detected in various habitats. However, little is known about their physiology and ecological importance. In this study, an operational taxonomic unit belonging to Acetothermia was detected at high abundance in four full-scale anaerobic digesters by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. The first closed genome from this phylum was obtained by differential coverage binning of metagenomes and scaffolding with long nanopore reads. Genome annotation and metabolic reconstruction suggested an anaerobic chemoheterotrophic lifestyle in which the bacterium obtains energy and carbon via fermentation of peptides, amino acids, and simple sugars to acetate, formate, and hydrogen. The morphology was unusual and composed of a central rod-shaped cell with bipolar prosthecae as revealed by fluorescence in situ hybridization combined with confocal laser scanning microscopy, Raman microspectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy. We hypothesize that these prosthecae allow for increased nutrient uptake by greatly expanding the cell surface area, providing a competitive advantage under nutrient-limited conditions.

The selective value of bacterial shape

Why do bacteria have shape? Is morphology valuable or just a trivial secondary characteristic? Why should bacteria have one shape instead of another? Three broad considerations suggest that bacterial shapes are not accidental but are biologically important: cells adopt uniform morphologies from among a wide variety of possibilities, some cells modify their shape as conditions demand, and morphology can be tracked through evolutionary lineages. All of these imply that shape is a selectable feature that aids survival. The aim of this review is to spell out the physical, environmental, and biological forces that favor different bacterial morphologies and which, therefore, contribute to natural selection. Specifically, cell shape is driven by eight general considerations: nutrient access, cell division and segregation, attachment to surfaces, passive dispersal, active motility, polar differentiation, the need to escape predators, and the advantages of cellular differentiation. Bacteria respond to these forces by performing a type of calculus, integrating over a number of environmental and behavioral factors to produce a size and shape that are optimal for the circumstances in which they live. Just as we are beginning to answer how bacteria create their shapes, it seems reasonable and essential that we expand our efforts to understand why they do so.

Marine prosthecate bacteria involved in the ennoblement of stainless steel

Ennoblement, a phenomenon in which open-circuit potential is elevated to a noble value, triggers metal corrosion in the environment and is considered to be biologically catalysed. This study investigated the involvement of marine microorganisms in the ennoblement of stainless steel coupons in sea water pumped from Kamaishi Bay. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed significant attachment of prosthecate bacteria on the surfaces of stainless steel coupons in the course of ennoblement. In denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analyses of polymerase chain reaction-amplified bacterial 16S rDNA fragments, several major bands were detected from the surface of the ennobled coupons, including those affiliated with the alpha and gamma subclasses of the Proteobacteria. After these observations, bacterial strains were isolated from the surface of the ennobled coupon. The 16S rDNA analysis revealed that a bacterial isolate (designated PWB3) corresponded to a major DGGE band representing an alpha-Proteobacterial population; a database analysis showed that its closest relative was Rhodobium spp., albeit with low homology ( approximately 89%). SEM indicated that this bacterium was a prosthecate bacterium that was morphologically similar to those observed on the ennobled coupons. In pure culture of strain PWB3, stainless steel coupons were ennobled when the culture was supplemented with MnCl2. Manganese was recovered from the surface of the ennobled coupons after treatment with a reducing agent. These results suggest that the attachment of manganese-oxidizing prosthecate bacteria triggered the ennoblement of stainless steel in Kamaishi Bay sea water.

Proteomic analysis of the Caulobacter crescentus stalk indicates competence for nutrient uptake

Caulobacter crescentus, a Gram-negative alpha-purple proteobacterium, is an oligotroph that lives in aquatic environments dilute in nutrients. This bacterium divides asymmetrically. Part of this asymmetric cell division involves the formation of a prosthecum at one pole, referred to as the stalk, which replaces the flagellum of the motile swarmer cell. Little is known about the synthesis or function of the stalk. The stalk is an extension of the cell membranes and peptidoglycan layer, and stalk elongation is stimulated by phosphate starvation. In this study, we have taken advantage of two-dimensional gel (2D gel) electro-phoresis as well as the fully sequenced genome of Caulobacter to study the proteome of the stalk. We modified a stalk-shedding mutant strain of Caulobacter crescentus to increase the yield of stalk material shed and performed 2D gel electrophoresis of purified stalks and cellular fractions. Comparison of the stalk 2D gel with the 2D gels of cell membrane and soluble fractions showed that the stalk is mostly free of cytoplasmic proteins and has a profile very similar to that of the cell membrane. Of the 172 proteins on a stalk 2D gel, we report the identification of 64 spots, corresponding to 39 different proteins present in the stalk of Caulobacter. The identifications include several TonB-dependent receptors, two OmpA family proteins, a dipeptidase, GlpQ, two alkaline phosphatases, 3-phytase, a putative TolC protein and 11 proteins of unknown function. These identifications are consistent with the hypothesis that the stalk plays a role in nutrient uptake.

Structure of the porin from a bacterial stalk

The stalks (hyphae) of a prosthecate bacterium, directly sampled from the water surface of a hot pond, show extended regular patterns on their envelope in the electron microscope. Image processing revealed a structure of the crystalline complexes which is very similar to the gross morphology of the Escherichia coli porins OmpC and OmpF. The natural two-dimensional crystal of the outer membrane protein has p3 symmetry and a lattice constant of 7.95 nm. The three-dimensional structure of the stalk porin has been determined to an almost isotropic resolution of 1.7 nm. The reconstruction revealed a complex network of channels within the membrane matrix with a triplet of pores merging into a common outlet, similar to the structure of the E. coli porin OmpF in reconstituted membranes. In addition, a blindly ending pore exists which appears to be connected to the continuous pores via small channels. The significance of the regularly arrayed porin cylinders with respect to the shape and function of the stalks is discussed.

The caulobacters: ubiquitous unusual bacteria

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Glucose transport in isolated prosthecae of Asticcacaulis biprosthecum

Active transport of glucose in prosthecae isolated from cells of Asticcacaulis biprosthecum was stimulated by the non-physiological electron donor N, N, N', N'-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine dihydrochloride. Glucose uptake was mediated by two transport systems; the apparent Km of the high-affinity system was 1.8 muM and that of the low-affinity system was 34 muM. Free glucose accumulated within prosthecae at a concentration 60 to 200 times above that present externally, depending on the Km of the system being observed. The glucose transport system in prosthecae was stereospecific for D-glucose, and neither methyl alpha-D-glucopyranoside nor 2-deoxyglucose was transported. Uptake of glucose was inhibited by N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) and p-chloromercuribenzoate (PCMB), and the inhibition by PCMB but not by NEM was reversed by dithiothreitol. Glucose uptake was also inhibited by the uncoupling agents 5-chloro-3-t-butyl-2'-nitrosalicylanilide (S-13), 5-chloro-3-(p-chlorophenyl)-4'-chlorosalicylanilide (S-6), and carbonyl-cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP) and by the respiratory inhibitor KCN. Efflux of glucose from preloaded prosthecae was induced by PCMB and KCN, but not by S-13 or CCCP. Glucose uptake was not affected by arsenate or an inhibitor of membrane-bound adenosine triphosphatases, N, N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide. The lack of inhibition by these two compounds, combined with the extremely low levels of adenosine 5'-triphosphate present in prosthecae, indicates that adenosine 5'-triphosphate is not involved in the transport of glucose by prosthecae.