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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2001, p. 260-269, Vol. 67, No. 1
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology,
Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53226
Received 17 July 2000/Accepted 19 October 2000
Shewanella putrefaciens MR-1 can use a wide variety of
terminal electron acceptors for anaerobic respiration, including
certain insoluble manganese and iron oxides. To examine whether the
outer membrane (OM) cytochromes of MR-1 play a role in Mn(IV) and
Fe(III) reduction, mutants lacking the OM cytochrome OmcA or OmcB were isolated by gene replacement. Southern blotting and PCR confirmed replacement of the omcA and omcB genes,
respectively, and reverse transcription-PCR analysis demonstrated loss
of the respective mRNAs, whereas mRNAs for upstream and downstream
genes were retained. The omcA mutant (OMCA1) resembled MR-1
in its growth on trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), dimethyl
sulfoxide, nitrate, fumarate, thiosulfate, and tetrathionate and its
reduction of nitrate, nitrite, ferric citrate, FeOOH, and
anthraquinone-2,6-disulfonic acid. Similarly, the omcB
mutant (OMCB1) grew on fumarate, nitrate, TMAO, and thiosulfate and
reduced ferric citrate and FeOOH. However, OMCA1 and OMCB1 were 45 and
75% slower than MR-1, respectively, at reducing MnO2. OMCA1 lacked only OmcA. While OMCB1 lacked OmcB, other OM cytochromes were also missing or markedly depressed. The total cytochrome content
of the OM of OMCB1 was less than 15% of that of MR-1. Western blots
demonstrated that OMCB1 still synthesized OmcA, but most of it was
localized in the cytoplasmic membrane and soluble fractions rather than
in the OM. OMCB1 had therefore lost the ability to properly localize
multiple OM cytochromes to the OM. Together, the results suggest that
the OM cytochromes of MR-1 participate in the reduction of Mn(IV) but
are not required for the reduction of Fe(III) or other electron acceptors.
0099-2240/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/AEM.67.1.260-269.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Role for Outer Membrane Cytochromes OmcA and OmcB
of Shewanella putrefaciens MR-1 in Reduction of
Manganese Dioxide
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Dept. of
Pharmacology and Toxicology, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 Watertown Plank Rd., Milwaukee, WI 53226. Phone: (414) 456-8593. Fax:
(414) 456-6545. E-mail: cmyers{at}mcw.edu.
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