This Article
Right arrow Full Text
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 Edgcomb, V. P.
Right arrow Articles by Teske, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Edgcomb, V. P.
Right arrow Articles by Teske, A.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Edgcomb, V. P.
Right arrow Articles by Teske, A.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, April 2004, p. 2551-2555, Vol. 70, No. 4
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.4.2551-2555.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Sulfide Ameliorates Metal Toxicity for Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vent Archaea{dagger}

Virginia P. Edgcomb,1* Stephen J. Molyneaux,1 Mak A. Saito,2 Karen Lloyd,1 Simone Böer,3 Carl O. Wirsen,1 Michael S. Atkins,1 and Andreas Teske1,4

Biology Department,1 Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543,2 Institute for Biology and Chemistry of the Ocean (ICBM), Oldenburg University, Oldenburg, Germany 26110,3 Department of Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 275994

Received 9 July 2003/ Accepted 2 January 2004

The chemical stress factors for microbial life at deep-sea hydrothermal vents include high concentrations of heavy metals and sulfide. Three hyperthermophilic vent archaea, the sulfur-reducing heterotrophs Thermococcus fumicolans and Pyrococcus strain GB-D and the chemolithoautotrophic methanogen Methanocaldococcus jannaschii, were tested for survival tolerance to heavy metals (Zn, Co, and Cu) and sulfide. The sulfide addition consistently ameliorated the high toxicity of free metal cations by the formation of dissolved metal-sulfide complexes as well as solid precipitates. Thus, chemical speciation of heavy metals with sulfide allows hydrothermal vent archaea to tolerate otherwise toxic metal concentrations in their natural environment.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: MS-33, Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543. Phone: (508) 289-3734. Fax: (508) 457-2134. E-mail: vedgcomb{at}whoi.edu.

{dagger} Contribution number 10928 of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, April 2004, p. 2551-2555, Vol. 70, No. 4
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.4.2551-2555.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Lloyd, K. G., Edgcomb, V. P., Molyneaux, S. J., Boer, S., Wirsen, C. O., Atkins, M. S., Teske, A. (2005). Effects of Dissolved Sulfide, pH, and Temperature on Growth and Survival of Marine Hyperthermophilic Archaea. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 6383-6387 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Vetriani, C., Chew, Y. S., Miller, S. M., Yagi, J., Coombs, J., Lutz, R. A., Barkay, T. (2005). Mercury Adaptation among Bacteria from a Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vent. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 220-226 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»