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MBio Aug 2020Adaptation via natural selection is an important driver of evolution, and repeatable adaptations of replicate populations, under conditions of a constant environment,...
Adaptation via natural selection is an important driver of evolution, and repeatable adaptations of replicate populations, under conditions of a constant environment, have been extensively reported. However, isolated groups of populations in nature tend to harbor both genetic and physiological divergence due to multiple selective pressures that they have encountered. How this divergence affects adaptation of these populations to a new common environment remains unclear. To determine the impact of prior genetic and physiological divergence in shaping adaptive evolution to accommodate a new common environment, an experimental evolution study with the sulfate-reducing bacterium Hildenborough (DvH) was conducted. Two groups of replicate populations with genetic and physiological divergence, derived from a previous evolution study, were propagated in an elevated-temperature environment for 1,000 generations. Ancestor populations without prior experimental evolution were also propagated in the same environment as a control. After 1,000 generations, all the populations had increased growth rates and all but one had greater fitness in the new environment than the ancestor population. Moreover, improvements in growth rate were moderately affected by the divergence in the starting populations, while changes in fitness were not significantly affected. The mutations acquired at the gene level in each group of populations were quite different, indicating that the observed phenotypic changes were achieved by evolutionary responses that differed between the groups. Overall, our work demonstrated that the initial differences in fitness between the starting populations were eliminated by adaptation and that phenotypic convergence was achieved by acquisition of mutations in different genes. Improving our understanding of how previous adaptation influences evolution has been a long-standing goal in evolutionary biology. Natural selection tends to drive populations to find similar adaptive solutions for the same selective conditions. However, variations in historical environments can lead to both physiological and genetic divergence that can make evolution unpredictable. Here, we assessed the influence of divergence on the evolution of a model sulfate-reducing bacterium, Hildenborough, in response to elevated temperature and found a significant effect at the genetic but not the phenotypic level. Understanding how these influences drive evolution will allow us to better predict how bacteria will adapt to various ecological constraints.
Topics: Adaptation, Physiological; Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; Desulfovibrio vulgaris; Directed Molecular Evolution; Genetic Fitness; Genetic Variation; Mutation; Oxidation-Reduction; Sulfates; Temperature
PubMed: 32817099
DOI: 10.1128/mBio.00569-20 -
Applied and Environmental Microbiology Feb 2012Crp/Fnr-type global transcriptional regulators regulate various metabolic pathways in bacteria and typically function in response to environmental changes. However,...
Crp/Fnr-type global transcriptional regulators regulate various metabolic pathways in bacteria and typically function in response to environmental changes. However, little is known about the function of four annotated Crp/Fnr homologs (DVU0379, DVU2097, DVU2547, and DVU3111) in Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough. A systematic study using bioinformatic, transcriptomic, genetic, and physiological approaches was conducted to characterize their roles in stress responses. Similar growth phenotypes were observed for the crp/fnr deletion mutants under multiple stress conditions. Nevertheless, the idea of distinct functions of Crp/Fnr-type regulators in stress responses was supported by phylogeny, gene transcription changes, fitness changes, and physiological differences. The four D. vulgaris Crp/Fnr homologs are localized in three subfamilies (HcpR, CooA, and cc). The crp/fnr knockout mutants were well separated by transcriptional profiling using detrended correspondence analysis (DCA), and more genes significantly changed in expression in a ΔDVU3111 mutant (JW9013) than in the other three paralogs. In fitness studies, strain JW9013 showed the lowest fitness under standard growth conditions (i.e., sulfate reduction) and the highest fitness under NaCl or chromate stress conditions; better fitness was observed for a ΔDVU2547 mutant (JW9011) under nitrite stress conditions and a ΔDVU2097 mutant (JW9009) under air stress conditions. A higher Cr(VI) reduction rate was observed for strain JW9013 in experiments with washed cells. These results suggested that the four Crp/Fnr-type global regulators play distinct roles in stress responses of D. vulgaris. DVU3111 is implicated in responses to NaCl and chromate stresses, DVU2547 in nitrite stress responses, and DVU2097 in air stress responses.
Topics: Air; Bacterial Proteins; Chromates; Computational Biology; Cyclic AMP Receptor Protein; DNA, Bacterial; Desulfovibrio vulgaris; Gene Deletion; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; Molecular Sequence Data; Nitrites; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Sodium Chloride; Stress, Physiological; Transcription Factors; Transcription, Genetic; Transcriptome
PubMed: 22156435
DOI: 10.1128/AEM.05666-11 -
The ISME Journal Nov 2015A central tenant in microbial biogeochemistry is that microbial metabolisms follow a predictable sequence of terminal electron acceptors based on the energetic yield for...
A central tenant in microbial biogeochemistry is that microbial metabolisms follow a predictable sequence of terminal electron acceptors based on the energetic yield for the reaction. It is thereby oftentimes assumed that microbial respiration of ferric iron outcompetes sulfate in all but high-sulfate systems, and thus sulfide has little influence on freshwater or terrestrial iron cycling. Observations of sulfate reduction in low-sulfate environments have been attributed to the presumed presence of highly crystalline iron oxides allowing sulfate reduction to be more energetically favored. Here we identified the iron-reducing processes under low-sulfate conditions within columns containing freshwater sediments amended with structurally diverse iron oxides and fermentation products that fuel anaerobic respiration. We show that despite low sulfate concentrations and regardless of iron oxide substrate (ferrihydrite, Al-ferrihydrite, goethite, hematite), sulfidization was a dominant pathway in iron reduction. This process was mediated by (re)cycling of sulfur upon reaction of sulfide and iron oxides to support continued sulfur-based respiration--a cryptic sulfur cycle involving generation and consumption of sulfur intermediates. Although canonical iron respiration was not observed in the sediments amended with the more crystalline iron oxides, iron respiration did become dominant in the presence of ferrihydrite once sulfate was consumed. Thus, despite more favorable energetics, ferrihydrite reduction did not precede sulfate reduction and instead an inverse redox zonation was observed. These findings indicate that sulfur (re)cycling is a dominant force in iron cycling even in low-sulfate systems and in a manner difficult to predict using the classical thermodynamic ladder.
Topics: Desulfovibrio; Ferric Compounds; Fresh Water; Gases; Geologic Sediments; Iron; Iron Compounds; Minerals; Oxidation-Reduction; Oxides; Oxygen Consumption; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; Sulfates; Sulfides; Sulfur; Sulfur Compounds; Thermodynamics
PubMed: 25871933
DOI: 10.1038/ismej.2015.50 -
Journal of Bacteriology Jul 1981Various dehydrogenases, reductases, and electron transfer proteins involved in respiratory sulfate reduction by Desulfovibrio gigas have been localized with respect to...
Various dehydrogenases, reductases, and electron transfer proteins involved in respiratory sulfate reduction by Desulfovibrio gigas have been localized with respect to the periplasmic space, membrane, and cytoplasm. This species was grown on a lactate-sulfate medium, and the distribution of enzyme activities and concentrations of electron transfer components were determined in intact cells, cell fractions prepared with a French press, and lysozyme spheroplasts. A significant fraction of formate dehydrogenase was demonstrated to be localized in the periplasmic space in addition to hydrogenase and some c-type cytochrome. Cytochrome b, menaquinone, fumarate reductase, and nitrite reductase were largely localized on the cytoplasmic membrane. Fumarate reductase was situated on the inner aspect on the membrane, and the nitrite reductase appeared to be transmembraneous. Adenylylsulfate reductase, bisulfite reductase (desulfoviridin), pyruvate dehydrogenase, and succinate dehydrogenase activities were localized in the cytoplasm. Significant amounts of hydrogenase and c-type cytochromes were also detected in the cytoplasm. Growth of D. gigas on a formate-sulfate medium containing acetate resulted in a 10-fold increase in membrane-bound formate dehydrogenase and a doubling of c-type cytochromes. Growth on fumarate with formate resulted in an additional increase in b-type cytochrome compared with lactate-sulfate-grown cells.
Topics: Cell Membrane; Coenzymes; Cytochromes; Cytoplasm; Desulfovibrio; Electron Transport; Formate Dehydrogenases; Oxidoreductases; Sulfates
PubMed: 7240092
DOI: 10.1128/jb.147.1.161-169.1981 -
Research in Microbiology Jan 2018Mercury methylation and demethylation processes govern the fate of methylmercury in aquatic ecosystems. Under anoxic conditions, methylation activity is mainly of...
Mercury methylation and demethylation processes govern the fate of methylmercury in aquatic ecosystems. Under anoxic conditions, methylation activity is mainly of biological origin and is often the result of sulfate-reducing bacteria. In this study, the use of a luminescent biosensor for screening methylmercury production was validated by exposing the reporter strain to methylating or non-methylating Desulfovibrio strains. The sensitivity of the biosensor to methylmercury was shown to depend on sulfate-reducing bacterial growth conditions. Bioluminescence was measured using 1-10 mM of sulfides. As the sulfide level increased, luminescence decreased by 40-70%, respectively. Nevertheless, assuming an average of 5 mM of sulfide produced during sulfate-reducing growth, a mercury methylation potential of over 4% was detected when using 185 nM of inorganic mercury. Due to technical limitations, mercury speciation has, to date, only been investigated in a small number of bacterial strains, and no consistent phylogenetic distribution has been identified. Here, the biosensor was further used to assess the Hg methylation capacities of an additional 21 strains related to the Desulfobulbaceae. Seven of them were identified as methylmercury producers. Cultivation procedures combined with bacterial biosensors could provide innovative tools to identify new methylator clades amongst the prokaryotes.
Topics: Biosensing Techniques; Desulfovibrio; Geologic Sediments; Mercury; Methylation; Phylogeny; Sulfates; Sulfides
PubMed: 28951230
DOI: 10.1016/j.resmic.2017.09.005 -
Characterization of an operon encoding an NADP-reducing hydrogenase in Desulfovibrio fructosovorans.Journal of Bacteriology May 1995A genomic DNA fragment from Desulfovibrio fructosovorans, which strongly hybridized with the hydAB genes from Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough, was cloned and...
A genomic DNA fragment from Desulfovibrio fructosovorans, which strongly hybridized with the hydAB genes from Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough, was cloned and sequenced. This fragment was found to contain four genes, named hndA, hndB, hndC, and hndD. Analysis of the sequence homologies indicated that HndA shows 29, 21, and 26% identity with the 24-kDa subunit from Bos taurus complex I, the 25-kDa subunit from Paracoccus denitrificans NADH dehydrogenase type I, and the N-terminal domain of HoxF subunit of the NAD-reducing hydrogenase from Alcaligenes eutrophus, respectively. HndB does not show any significant homology with any known protein. HndC shows 37 and 33% identity with the C-terminal domain of HoxF and the 51-kDa subunit from B. taurus complex I, respectively, and has the requisite structural features to be able to bind one flavin mononucleotide, one NAD, and three [4Fe-4S] clusters. HndD has 40, 42, and 48% identity with hydrogenase I from Clostridium pasteurianum and HydC and HydA from D. vulgaris Hildenborough, respectively. The 4.5-kb length of the transcripts expressed in D. fructosovorans and in Escherichia coli (pSS13) indicated that all four genes were present on the same transcription unit. The sizes of the four polypeptides were measured by performing heterologous expression of hndABCD in E. coli, using the T7 promoter/polymerase system. The products of hndA, hndB, hndC, and hndD were 18.8, 13.8, 52, and 63.4 kDa, respectively. One hndC deletion mutant, called SM3, was constructed by performing marker exchange mutagenesis. Immunoblotting studies carried out on cell extracts from D. fructosovorans wild-type and SM3 strains, using antibodies directed against HndC, indicated that the 52-kDa protein was recognized in extracts from the wild-type strain only. In soluble extracts from D. fructosovorans wild type, a 10-fold induction of NADP reduction was observed when H(2) was present, but no H(2)-dependent NAD reduction ever occurred. This H(2)-dependent NADP reductase activity disappeared completely in extracts from SM3. These results indicate that the hnd operon actually encodes an NAdP-reducing hydrogenase in D. fructosovorans.
Topics: Amino Acid Sequence; Bacterial Proteins; Base Sequence; Blotting, Northern; Desulfovibrio; Escherichia coli; Immunoblotting; Molecular Sequence Data; Mutagenesis; Operon; Oxidoreductases; Recombinant Proteins; Sequence Analysis; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
PubMed: 7751270
DOI: 10.1128/jb.177.10.2628-2636.1995 -
Cell Chemical Biology Oct 2016Deamination of choline catalyzed by the glycyl radical enzyme choline trimethylamine-lyase (CutC) has emerged as an important route for the production of trimethylamine,...
Deamination of choline catalyzed by the glycyl radical enzyme choline trimethylamine-lyase (CutC) has emerged as an important route for the production of trimethylamine, a microbial metabolite associated with both human disease and biological methane production. Here, we have determined five high-resolution X-ray structures of wild-type CutC and mechanistically informative mutants in the presence of choline. Within an unexpectedly polar active site, CutC orients choline through hydrogen bonding with a putative general base, and through close interactions between phenolic and carboxylate oxygen atoms of the protein scaffold and the polarized methyl groups of the trimethylammonium moiety. These structural data, along with biochemical analysis of active site mutants, support a mechanism that involves direct elimination of trimethylamine. This work broadens our understanding of radical-based enzyme catalysis and will aid in the rational design of inhibitors of bacterial trimethylamine production.
Topics: Bacterial Proteins; Catalytic Domain; Choline; Crystallography, X-Ray; Desulfovibrio; Hydrogen Bonding; Lyases; Methylamines; Models, Molecular; Protein Conformation; Substrate Specificity
PubMed: 27642068
DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2016.07.020 -
BMC Microbiology May 2010Communities of microorganisms control the rates of key biogeochemical cycles, and are important for biotechnology, bioremediation, and industrial microbiological...
BACKGROUND
Communities of microorganisms control the rates of key biogeochemical cycles, and are important for biotechnology, bioremediation, and industrial microbiological processes. For this reason, we constructed a model microbial community comprised of three species dependent on trophic interactions. The three species microbial community was comprised of Clostridium cellulolyticum, Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough, and Geobacter sulfurreducens and was grown under continuous culture conditions. Cellobiose served as the carbon and energy source for C. cellulolyticum, whereas D. vulgaris and G. sulfurreducens derived carbon and energy from the metabolic products of cellobiose fermentation and were provided with sulfate and fumarate respectively as electron acceptors.
RESULTS
qPCR monitoring of the culture revealed C. cellulolyticum to be dominant as expected and confirmed the presence of D. vulgaris and G. sulfurreducens. Proposed metabolic modeling of carbon and electron flow of the three-species community indicated that the growth of C. cellulolyticum and D. vulgaris were electron donor limited whereas G. sulfurreducens was electron acceptor limited.
CONCLUSIONS
The results demonstrate that C. cellulolyticum, D. vulgaris, and G. sulfurreducens can be grown in coculture in a continuous culture system in which D. vulgaris and G. sulfurreducens are dependent upon the metabolic byproducts of C. cellulolyticum for nutrients. This represents a step towards developing a tractable model ecosystem comprised of members representing the functional groups of a trophic network.
Topics: Anaerobiosis; Cellobiose; Clostridium cellulolyticum; Desulfovibrio vulgaris; Electron Transport; Energy Metabolism; Geobacter; Models, Biological
PubMed: 20497531
DOI: 10.1186/1471-2180-10-149 -
Scientific Reports Dec 2014Microbial syntrophic metabolism has been well accepted as the heart of how methanogenic and other anaerobic microbial communities function. In this work, we applied a...
Microbial syntrophic metabolism has been well accepted as the heart of how methanogenic and other anaerobic microbial communities function. In this work, we applied a single-cell RT-qPCR approach to reveal gene-expression heterogeneity in a model syntrophic system of Desulfovibrio vulgaris and Methanosarcina barkeri, as compared with the D. vulgaris monoculture. Using the optimized primers and single-cell analytical protocol, we quantitatively determine gene-expression levels of 6 selected target genes in each of the 120 single cells of D. vulgaris isolated from its monoculture and dual-culture with M. barkeri. The results demonstrated very significant cell-to-cell gene-expression heterogeneity for the selected D. vulgaris genes in both the monoculture and the syntrophic dual-culture. Interestingly, no obvious increase in gene-expression heterogeneity for the selected genes was observed for the syntrophic dual-culture when compared with its monoculture, although the community structure and cell-cell interactions have become more complicated in the syntrophic dual-culture. In addition, the single-cell RT-qPCR analysis also provided further evidence that the gene cluster (DVU0148-DVU0150) may be involved syntrophic metabolism between D. vulgaris and M. barkeri. Finally, the study validated that single-cell RT-qPCR analysis could be a valuable tool in deciphering gene functions and metabolism in mixed-cultured microbial communities.
Topics: Bacterial Proteins; Biomarkers; Cells, Cultured; Coculture Techniques; Desulfovibrio vulgaris; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; Methanosarcina barkeri; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; RNA, Messenger; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Single-Cell Analysis
PubMed: 25504148
DOI: 10.1038/srep07478 -
The ISME Journal Sep 2013Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough strains with significantly increased tolerance to NaCl were obtained via experimental evolution. A NaCl-evolved strain, ES9-11,...
Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough strains with significantly increased tolerance to NaCl were obtained via experimental evolution. A NaCl-evolved strain, ES9-11, isolated from a population cultured for 1200 generations in medium amended with 100 mM NaCl, showed better tolerance to NaCl than a control strain, EC3-10, cultured for 1200 generations in parallel but without NaCl amendment in medium. To understand the NaCl adaptation mechanism in ES9-11, we analyzed the transcriptional, metabolite and phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) profiles of strain ES9-11 with 0, 100- or 250 mM-added NaCl in medium compared with the ancestral strain and EC3-10 as controls. In all the culture conditions, increased expressions of genes involved in amino-acid synthesis and transport, energy production, cation efflux and decreased expression of flagellar assembly genes were detected in ES9-11. Consistently, increased abundances of organic solutes and decreased cell motility were observed in ES9-11. Glutamate appears to be the most important osmoprotectant in D. vulgaris under NaCl stress, whereas, other organic solutes such as glutamine, glycine and glycine betaine might contribute to NaCl tolerance under low NaCl concentration only. Unsaturation indices of PLFA significantly increased in ES9-11. Branched unsaturated PLFAs i17:1 ω9c, a17:1 ω9c and branched saturated i15:0 might have important roles in maintaining proper membrane fluidity under NaCl stress. Taken together, these data suggest that the accumulation of osmolytes, increased membrane fluidity, decreased cell motility and possibly an increased exclusion of Na(+) contribute to increased NaCl tolerance in NaCl-evolved D. vulgaris.
Topics: Adaptation, Physiological; Biological Evolution; Desulfovibrio vulgaris; Energy Metabolism; Fatty Acids; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; Membrane Fluidity; Sodium Chloride
PubMed: 23575373
DOI: 10.1038/ismej.2013.60