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Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta Feb 2013Although at low concentrations, arsenic commonly occurs naturally as a local geological constituent. Whereas both arsenate and arsenite are strongly toxic to life, a... (Review)
Review
Although at low concentrations, arsenic commonly occurs naturally as a local geological constituent. Whereas both arsenate and arsenite are strongly toxic to life, a number of prokaryotes use these compounds as electron acceptors or donors, respectively, for bioenergetic purposes via respiratory arsenate reductase, arsenite oxidase and alternative arsenite oxidase. The recent burst in discovered arsenite oxidizing and arsenate respiring microbes suggests the arsenic bioenergetic metabolisms to be anything but exotic. The first goal of the present review is to bring to light the widespread distribution and diversity of these metabolizing pathways. The second goal is to present an evolutionary analysis of these diverse energetic pathways. Taking into account not only the available data on the arsenic metabolizing enzymes and their phylogenetical relatives but also the palaeogeochemical records, we propose a crucial role of arsenite oxidation via arsenite oxidase in primordial life. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: The evolutionary aspects of bioenergetic systems.
Topics: Alcaligenes faecalis; Arsenate Reductases; Arsenic; Energy Metabolism; Oxidation-Reduction; Oxidoreductases; Protein Conformation
PubMed: 22982475
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbabio.2012.08.007 -
Environmental Health Perspectives Jun 1995This paper reviews the properties of the Alcaligenes eutrophus JMP134 tfdA gene product, the enzyme responsible for the first step in 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid... (Review)
Review
This paper reviews the properties of the Alcaligenes eutrophus JMP134 tfdA gene product, the enzyme responsible for the first step in 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) biodegradation. The gene was overexpressed in Escherichia coli and several of its enzymatic properties were characterized. Although this enzyme catalyzes a hydroxylation reaction, it is not a monooxygenase. Rather, TfdA is an Fe(II) and alpha-ketoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase that metabolizes the latter cosubstrate to succinate and carbon dioxide. A variety of other phenoxyacetates and alpha-ketoacids can be used by the enzyme, but the greatest catalytic efficiencies were found using 2,4-D and alpha-ketoglutarate. The enzyme possesses multiple essential histidine residues, whereas catalytically essential cysteine and lysine groups do not appear to be present.
Topics: 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid; Alcaligenes; Biodegradation, Environmental; Ketoglutaric Acids; Proteins
PubMed: 8565907
DOI: 10.1289/ehp.95103s437 -
Environmental Health Perspectives Sep 1994Bacterial plasmids contain specific genes for resistances to toxic heavy metal ions including Ag+, AsO2-, AsO4(3-), Cd2+, Co2+, CrO4(2-), Cu2+, Hg2+, Ni2+, Pb2+, Sb3+,... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study Review
Bacterial plasmids contain specific genes for resistances to toxic heavy metal ions including Ag+, AsO2-, AsO4(3-), Cd2+, Co2+, CrO4(2-), Cu2+, Hg2+, Ni2+, Pb2+, Sb3+, and Zn2+. Recent progress with plasmid copper-resistance systems in Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas syringae show a system of four gene products, an inner membrane protein (PcoD), an outer membrane protein (PcoB), and two periplasmic Cu(2+)-binding proteins (PcoA and PcoC). Synthesis of this system is governed by two regulatory proteins (the membrane sensor PcoS and the soluble responder PcoR, probably a DNA-binding protein), homologous to other bacterial two-component regulatory systems. Chromosomally encoded Cu2+ P-type ATPases have recently been recognized in Enterococcus hirae and these are closely homologous to the bacterial cadmium efflux ATPase and the human copper-deficiency disease Menkes gene product. The Cd(2+)-efflux ATPase of gram-positive bacteria is a large P-type ATPase, homologous to the muscle Ca2+ ATPase and the Na+/K+ ATPases of animals. The arsenic-resistance system of gram-negative bacteria functions as an oxyanion efflux ATPase for arsenite and presumably antimonite. However, the structure of the arsenic ATPase is fundamentally different from that of P-type ATPases. The absence of the arsA gene (for the ATPase subunit) in gram-positive bacteria raises questions of energy-coupling for arsenite efflux. The ArsC protein product of the arsenic-resistance operons of both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria is an intracellular enzyme that reduces arsenate [As(V)] to arsenite [As(III)], the substrate for the transport pump. Newly studied cation efflux systems for Cd2+, Zn2+, and Co2+ (Czc) or Co2+ and Ni2+ resistance (Cnr) lack ATPase motifs in their predicted polypeptide sequences. Therefore, not all plasmid-resistance systems that function through toxic ion efflux are ATPases. The first well-defined bacterial metallothionein was found in the cyanobacterium Synechococcus. Bacterial metallothionein is encoded by the smtA gene and contains 56 amino acids, including nine cysteine residues (fewer than animal metallothioneins). The synthesis of Synechococcus metallothionein is regulated by a repressor protein, the product of the adjacent but separately transcribed smtB gene. Regulation of metallothionein synthesis occurs at different levels; quickly by derepression of repressor activity, or over a longer time by deletion of the repressor gene at fixed positions and by amplification of the metallothionein DNA region leading to multiple copies of the gene.
Topics: Alcaligenes; Bacteria; Base Sequence; Copper; Drug Resistance, Microbial; Metallothionein; Metals; Molecular Sequence Data; Plasmids
PubMed: 7843081
DOI: 10.1289/ehp.94102s3107 -
The Western Journal of Medicine Apr 1982
Topics: Aged; Alcaligenes; Female; Humans; Pneumonia
PubMed: 7090381
DOI: No ID Found -
Journal of Applied Microbiology Apr 2010Alcaligenes sp. NBRC 14130 was found as a strain hydrolysing a mixture of (+/-)-trans- and (+/-)-cis ethyl chrysanthemates to (1R,3R)-(+)-trans-chrysanthemic acid. The...
AIMS
Alcaligenes sp. NBRC 14130 was found as a strain hydrolysing a mixture of (+/-)-trans- and (+/-)-cis ethyl chrysanthemates to (1R,3R)-(+)-trans-chrysanthemic acid. The Alcaligenes cells also have hydrolytic activity for 6-aminohexanoate-cyclic dimer (6-AHCD, 1,8-diazacyclotetradecane-2,9-dione). The correlation of function on the enzyme from the Alcaligenes strain with hydrolysis activities for both ethyl chrysanthemate and 6-AHCD was demonstrated.
METHODS AND RESULTS
The esterase was purified to homogeneity. The purified esterase hydrolysed 20 mmol l(-1) ester including the four stereoisomers to the corresponding (+)-trans acid with a 37% molar conversion of ethyl (+)-trans chrysanthemate. The esterase showed high hydrolytic activity for various short-chain fatty acid esters, n-hexane amide and 6-AHCD. The amino acid sequence of the Alcaligenes esterase was identical to that of Arthrobacter 6-AHCD hydrolase (EC 3.5.2.12) and similar to that of fatty acid amide hydrolase (EC 3.5.1.4) from Rattus norvegicus, having both serine and lysine residues of the catalytic site and the consensus motif Gly-X-Ser-X-Gly.
CONCLUSION
The stereo-selective hydrolytic activity was found in Alcaligenes sp. NBRC14130 by screening of ethyl chrysanthemate-hydrolysing activity in micro-organisms, and the purified esterase also acted on fatty acid esters and amides.
SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY
This study has demonstrated that there are great differences in the enzymatic properties, amino acid sequence and catalytic motif of esterases in both Alcaligenes and Arthrobacter globiformis with excellent stereo-selectivity for (+)-trans-ethyl chrysanthemate, but the amino acid sequence of Alcaligenes esterase is identical to that of Arthrobacter 6-AHCD hydrolase.
Topics: Alcaligenes; Amino Acid Sequence; Esterases; Hydrolysis; Mixed Function Oxygenases; Molecular Sequence Data; Pyrethrins; Sequence Alignment; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; Substrate Specificity
PubMed: 19778353
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2672.2009.04522.x -
Bacteriological Reviews Dec 1973
Review
Topics: Acinetobacter; Alcaligenes; Antigens, Bacterial; Cross Reactions; Immunodiffusion; Moraxella; Terminology as Topic
PubMed: 4203395
DOI: 10.1128/br.37.4.522-561.1973 -
Cancer Nov 2004Achromobacter and Alcaligenes are emerging infectious gram-negative bacterial species that can affect immunosuppressed patients. The authors sought to determine the...
BACKGROUND
Achromobacter and Alcaligenes are emerging infectious gram-negative bacterial species that can affect immunosuppressed patients. The authors sought to determine the incidence and characteristics of bloodstream infections caused by these organisms in patients with underlying malignancies.
METHODS
All consecutive episodes of hematogenous Achromobacter and Alcaligenes infections recorded from December 26, 1989, to July 27, 2003, were studied retrospectively.
RESULTS
Fifty-two episodes occurred in 46 patients; 31 patients (67%) had hematologic malignancies, and 24 (52%) experienced neutropenia (< 500 cells/microL). Diabetes mellitus was present in 12 patients (26%), and high-dose corticosteroids were administered to 12 patients (26%). Seventeen of the 52 infectious episodes (33%) were nosocomial in origin, and 10 patients (22%) had sepsis syndrome. Achromobacter xylosoxidans was the most common cause of infection (47 of 52 episodes [94%]), followed by Ach. denitrificans (2 of 52 episodes [4%]) and Alcaligenes faecalis (1 of 52 episodes [2%]). Twenty-seven episodes (52%) were polymicrobial, and 3 patients (7%) had concurrent fungemia. Infected intravascular catheters were present in 13 of 52 cases (25%), pneumonia was encountered in 6 of 52 cases (12%), and urinary tract infections were present in 5 of 52 cases (10%). Most isolates exhibited in vitro susceptibility to carbapenems, antipseudomonal penicillins, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Resistance to ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, aminoglycosides, and monobactam was common. Seven deaths (15%) were attributable to Achromobacter species. Incidence rates for sepsis syndrome, multiorgan dysfunction (Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation [APACHE] II score > 16), and use of mechanical ventilation and pressor support were significantly higher in patients who died (P < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis revealed that sepsis syndrome and high APACHE II scores were predictors of increased 30-day mortality.
CONCLUSIONS
Most infections caused by this group of nonfermentative gram-negative bacteria were attributable to Ach. xylosoxidans, and only one-third were acquired during hospitalization. The presence of sepsis syndrome has evolved as an independent predictor of poor outcome in patients with high-risk malignancies accompanied by Achromobacter bloodstream infections.
Topics: Achromobacter; Adult; Aged; Alcaligenes; Bacteremia; Female; Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections; Humans; Male; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Middle Aged; Neoplasms; Retrospective Studies
PubMed: 15389476
DOI: 10.1002/cncr.20604 -
Journal of Clinical Microbiology Apr 1984Although standard biochemical tests used for the identification of Alcaligenes spp. revealed only minor differences, the oxidative low-peptone technique clearly... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
Although standard biochemical tests used for the identification of Alcaligenes spp. revealed only minor differences, the oxidative low-peptone technique clearly differentiated between Alcaligenes-like bacteria of avian origin and Alcaligenes spp. reference strains. Based on their colonial morphology, biochemical profiles, and hemagglutination, the Alcaligenes-like bacteria of avian origin were further divided into two subgroups, C1-T1 and C2-T2. Colonies of subgroup C1-T1 were nondescript, round, raised, glistening, translucent, greyish, and about 2 mm in diameter. Colonies of subgroup C2-T2 were off-white, flat, dry and wrinkled, generally round, and resembled tiny lily pads. Biochemical profiles by the oxidative low-peptone method showed the C1-T1 subgroup alkalinizing only three substrates (citrate, acetate, and succinate), whereas the C2-T2 subgroup alkalinized eight substrates (citrate, acetate, butyrate, itaconate, malonate, saccharate, succinate, and M-tartrate). Subgroup C1-T1 agglutinated human, chicken, and turkey erythrocytes, whereas subgroup C2-T2 did not. The recognition of these two subgroups within the Alcaligenes-like bacteria of avian origin is important, since it may explain the differences seen in pathogenicity among isolates.
Topics: Alcaligenes; Animals; Chickens; Hemagglutination Tests; Turkeys
PubMed: 6715517
DOI: 10.1128/jcm.19.4.477-481.1984 -
Journal of Bacteriology Sep 1989The 163-kilobase-pair (kb) plasmid pMOL28, which determines inducible resistance to nickel, cobalt, chromate, and mercury salts in its native host Alcaligenes eutrophus...
The 163-kilobase-pair (kb) plasmid pMOL28, which determines inducible resistance to nickel, cobalt, chromate, and mercury salts in its native host Alcaligenes eutrophus CH34, was transferred to a derivative of A. eutrophus H16 and subjected to cloning procedures. After Tn5 transposon mutagenesis, restriction endonuclease analysis, and DNA-DNA hybridization, two DNA fragments, a 9.5-kb KpnI fragment and a 13.5-kb HindIII fragment (HKI), were isolated. HKI contained EK1, the KpnI fragment, as a subfragment flanked on both sides by short regions. Both fragments were ligated into the suicide vector pSUP202, the broad-host-range vector pVK101, and pUC19. Both fragments restored a nickel-sensitive Tn5 mutant to full nickel and cobalt resistance. The hybrid plasmid pVK101::HKI expressed full nickel resistance in all nickel-sensitive derivatives, either pMOL28-deficient or -defective, of the native host CH34. The hybrid plasmid pVK101::HKI also conferred nickel and cobalt resistance to A. eutrophus strains H16 and JMP222, Alcaligenes hydrogenophilus, Pseudomonas putida, and Pseudomonas oleovorans, but to a lower level of resistance. In all transconjugants the metal resistances coded by pVK101::HKI were expressed constitutively rather than inducibly. The hybrid plasmid metal resistance was not expressed in Escherichia coli. DNA sequences responsible for nickel resistance in newly isolated strains showed homology to the cloned pMOL28-encoded nickel and cobalt resistance determinant.
Topics: Alcaligenes; Blotting, Southern; Cloning, Molecular; Conjugation, Genetic; DNA Transposable Elements; Genes, Bacterial; Metals; Mutation; Nickel; Nucleic Acid Hybridization; Pseudomonas; R Factors; Restriction Mapping
PubMed: 2549012
DOI: 10.1128/jb.171.9.5071-5078.1989 -
Applied and Environmental Microbiology Dec 2005The presence of tetracycline resistance (Tc(r)) genes and class I integrons (in-1), and their ability to cotransfer were investigated in Tc(r) gram-negative (185...
The presence of tetracycline resistance (Tc(r)) genes and class I integrons (in-1), and their ability to cotransfer were investigated in Tc(r) gram-negative (185 strains) and gram-positive (72 strains) bacteria from Danish farmland and pigsties. The isolates belonged to the groups or species Escherichia coli, Enterobacter spp., Arthrobacter spp., Alcaligenes spp., Pseudomonas spp., and Corynebacterium glutamicum. The 257 isolates were screened for in-1. Eighty-one of the gram-negative isolates were also screened for the Tc(r) genes tet(A), tet(B), and tet(C), and all (n = 72) gram-positive isolates were screened for tet(33). Fourteen (7%) of the soil isolates and eleven (25%) of the pigsty isolates contained in-1. All isolates that contained tet genes also contained in-1, except one gram-negative isolate from a pigsty that contained tet(B). All gram-positive isolates with in-1 also contained tet(33). No isolates contained more than one tet gene. The in-1-positive isolates were tested for resistance to selected antimicrobial agents and showed resistance to three to nine drugs. Filter-mating experiments showed cotransfer of Tc(r) and class I integrons from soil isolates to Escherichia coli and/or Pseudomonas putida. We conclude that soil bacteria in close contact to manure or pigsty environment may thus have an important role in horizontal spread of resistance. Use of tetracyclines in food animal production may increase not only Tc(r) but also multidrug resistance (caused by the presence tet genes and in-1) in bacteria.
Topics: Alcaligenes; Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Arthrobacter; DNA Primers; Integrons; Manure; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Pseudomonas; Soil Microbiology; Swine; Tetracycline Resistance
PubMed: 16332771
DOI: 10.1128/AEM.71.12.7941-7947.2005