AEM
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by McInerney, M. J.
Right arrow Articles by Costerton, J. W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by McInerney, M. J.
Right arrow Articles by Costerton, J. W.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by McInerney, M. J.
Right arrow Articles by Costerton, J. W.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Appl Environ Microbiol. 1981 April; 41(4): 1029-1039

Syntrophomonas wolfei gen. nov. sp. nov., an Anaerobic, Syntrophic, Fatty Acid-Oxidizing Bacterium

M. J. McInerney1,2,{dagger}, M. P. Bryant1,2, R. B. Hespell1 and J. W. Costerton3

1 Department of Dairy Science, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801
2 Department of Microbiology, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801
3 Department of Biology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N IN4, Canada

ABSTRACT

An anaerobic, nonphototrophic bacterium that ß-oxidizes saturated fatty acids (butyrate through octanoate) to acetate or acetate and propionate using protons as the electron acceptor (H2 as electron sink product) was isolated in coculture with either a non-fatty acid-degrading, H2-utilizing Desulfovibrio sp. or methanogens. Three strains of the bacterium were characterized and are described as a new genus and species, Syntrophomonas wolfei. S. wolfei is a gram-negative, slightly helical rod with round ends that possesses between two to eight flagella laterally inserted along the concave side of the cell. It has a multilayered cell wall of the gram-negative type. The presence of muramic acid, inhibition of growth by penicillin, and increased sensitivity of the cells to lysis after treatment with lysozyme indicate that peptidoglycan is present in the cell wall. Cells of S. wolfei contain poly-ß-hydroxybutyrate. Isoheptanoate was degraded to acetate, isovalerate, and H2. Carbohydrates, proteinaceous materials, alcohols, or other tested organic compounds do not support growth. Common electron acceptors are not utilized with butyrate as the electron donor. Growth and degradation of fatty acids occur only in syntrophic association with H2-using bacteria. The most rapid generation time obtained by cocultures of S. wolfei with Desulfovibrio and Methanospirillum hungatei is 54 and 84 h, respectively. The addition of Casamino Acids but neither Trypticase nor yeast extract stimulated growth and resulted in a slight decrease in the generation time of S. wolfei cocultured with M. hungatei. The addition of H2 to the medium stopped growth and butyrate degradation by S. wolfei.

FOOTNOTES

{dagger} Present address: Department of Biochemistry, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602.

Appl Environ Microbiol. 1981 April; 41(4): 1029-1039




This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
J. Bacteriol. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. Eukaryot. Cell All ASM Journals

Copyright © 1981 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.