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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2007, p. 1153-1165, Vol. 73, No. 4
0099-2240/07/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/AEM.01588-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering,1 Biological Sciences,2 Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-54293
Received 9 July 2006/ Accepted 24 November 2006
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hydA,
hyaB, and
hydA
hyaB in-frame-deletion mutants
indicated that HydA functions primarily as a hydrogen-forming
hydrogenase while HyaB has a bifunctional role and represents the
dominant hydrogenase activity under the experimental conditions tested.
Based on results from physiological and genetic experiments, we propose
that hydrogen is formed from pyruvate by multiple parallel pathways,
one pathway involving formate as an intermediate, pyruvate-formate
lyase, and formate-hydrogen lyase, comprised of HydA hydrogenase and
formate dehydrogenase, and a formate-independent pathway involving
pyruvate dehydrogenase. A reverse electron transport chain is
potentially involved in a formate-hydrogen lyase-independent pathway.
While pyruvate does not support a fermentative mode of growth in this
microorganism, pyruvate, in the absence of an electron acceptor,
increased cell viability in anaerobic, stationary-phase cultures,
suggesting a role in the survival of S. oneidensis MR-1 under
stationary-phase
conditions. |
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-proteobacterium
frequently found in suboxic sediment and soil environments
(5,
31,
47,
50). The microorganism
utilizes a wide range of compounds as terminal electron acceptors for
anaerobic respiration and growth. These include compounds such as
fumarate; dimethyl sulfoxide and trimethylamine N-oxide;
elemental sulfur; S2O3;
NO3; NO2;
metal ions like Fe(III), Mn(IV), and Cr(VI); radionuclides such as
U(VI); and others (20,
26,
27). The spectrum of
electron donor usage is more limited and includes metabolic end
products of primary fermenting bacteria such as lactate and formate
(24,
39). The use of hydrogen
as an electron donor by Shewanella species was described in
earlier reports. Hydrogen served as the electron donor for Fe(III),
Mn(IV), NO3, Co(III), U(VI), and Cr(VI)
reduction by S. oneidensis MR-1 and S. putrefaciens
(21). In addition,
sulfite reduction (11)
and the transformation of tetrachloromethane into trichloromethane in
S. putrefaciens under Fe(III)-respiring conditions have been
reported previously (33).
A recent report described hydrogen as an electron donor for the
reduction of Pd(II) by S. oneidensis MR-1
(12). Hydrogenases catalyze the reversible reduction of protons into molecular hydrogen and have a central role in the energy metabolisms in many anaerobic microorganisms. Hydrogenases can be categorized into two phylogenetically distinct classes according to the metal contents of their active sites (48): [Ni-Fe] hydrogenases and [Fe-Fe] hydrogenases. [Ni-Fe] hydrogenases are found in a variety of anaerobic and facultative heterotrophic bacteria, cyanobacteria, and archaea and typically form heterodimers. An [Fe-Fe] hydrogenase may exist as a distinct monomer or heteromer (34) and is usually found in strict anaerobic bacteria such as Clostridium and Desulfovibrio spp., as well as in some green algae and several eukaryotic protists such as Trichomonas. [Ni-Fe] hydrogenases and [Fe-Fe] hydrogenases contain cyanide and carbon monoxide ligands coordinated with iron atoms at the active site (4, 15). Hydrogenases can also be classified according to their role in the uptake or formation of hydrogen. [Fe-Fe] hydrogenases are typically H2-forming hydrogenases, while [Ni-Fe] hydrogenases can function either in uptake or release. [Fe-Fe] hydrogenases have an approximately 100-fold-higher turnover number than [Ni-Fe] hydrogenases (15, 46).
Analysis of the S. oneidensis MR-1 genome revealed two putative hydrogenase gene clusters, hydA (SO3920 to SO3926) and hyaB (SO2089 to SO2099) (16). Based on structural features, HydAB is predicted to be a periplasmic [Fe-Fe] hydrogenase and HyaB a periplasmic [Ni-Fe] hydrogenase. The assembly of the [Fe-Fe] hydrogenase and its H-cluster is complex and involves helper proteins (19, 32). The S. oneidensis MR-1 hydA gene cluster also contains the hydE, hydF, and hydG genes, encoding accessory proteins predicted to be involved in the maturation of the [Fe-Fe] hydrogenase based on sequence homology to proteins in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and several other prokaryotes (34). Interestingly, a gene designated fdh encoding a putative formate dehydrogenase (FDH) is located in the S. oneidensis MR-1 hydA operon between hydB and the hydGEF genes. This FDH, in conjunction with HydAB, could function as a formate-hydrogen lyase (FHL) (see below).
Here we report experiments investigating the physiological and genetic basis for hydrogen formation in S. oneidensis MR-1. Considering the importance of hydrogen in anoxic environments, hydrogen formation by S. oneidensis MR-1 may add a new function for this microorganism in mixed-species communities in such environments.
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View this table: [in a new window] |
TABLE 1. Bacterial
strains and plasmids used in this study
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Analytical methods.
All samples were taken anaerobically
with argon-flushed syringes. The growth of anaerobic cultures was
monitored by using OD600 measurements (Ultrospec 10;
Amersham BioSciences, Piscataway, NJ). Organic acids were
identified and quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography
(1100 series high-performance liquid chromatography system; Agilent,
Palo Alto, CA). Liquid samples were removed from cultures, filtered
with 0.2-µm-syringe filters (Nalgene, Rochester, NY), and
frozen immediately. Organic acids were separated on an Aminex HPX-87H
column (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA) using 5 mM H2SO4
as the running buffer at a flow rate of 0.4 ml/min. The injection
volume was 20 µl per sample. Lactate and succinate were
analyzed at 55°C and acetate, fumarate, pyruvate, and formate
at 20°C. Compounds were identified by comparison to known
standards for the retention time, UV absorbance (210 nm), and
refractive index signal. Calibration with standards was routinely
performed. Samples for hydrogen analysis were removed from the
headspace with gas-tight syringes (Hamilton, Reno, NV) and injected
into a reduction gas hydrogen analyzer (Peak Performer I; Peak
Laboratories, Mountain View, CA) operated at room temperature with
99.998% N2 as the carrier gas. Hydrogen was quantified
according to a standard calibration curve (analytical H2
standards; Matheson Tri-Gas, Twinsburg, OH). Headspace and solution
concentrations were calculated using Henry's law constants
(22).
Survival experiments.
For viability
experiments with anaerobically grown, stationary-phase cells, S.
oneidensis MR-1 and the
hydA
hyaB double-mutant strains were grown anaerobically
as described above for 48 h at 30°C in MM containing
20 mM pyruvate and 20 mM fumarate. Cells were then harvested
anaerobically as described above and diluted to a final
OD600 of 0.25 in 120-ml serum bottles containing MM
supplemented with 10 mM pyruvate. Serum bottles with only MM served as
a control. After the removal of hydrogen by flushing of the headspace
with argon gas, bottles were incubated at 30°C at 250 rpm for 1
week. Survival under anaerobic conditions was quantified daily by
counting CFU on LB agar plates. The hydrogen concentration, the
OD600, and the organic acids profile were quantified daily
as described above.
RNA extraction and reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR).
S. oneidensis MR-1 cells
were grown anaerobically in serum bottles containing 100 ml of MM
supplemented with 20 mM pyruvate and 10 mM fumarate for 7, 15, 24, 32,
39, 48, 52, and 71 h. At every time point, 100 ml of culture
was withdrawn and centrifuged for 5 min at 4°C and 5,000
x g. Cell pellets were washed in ice-cold AE buffer
(20 mM sodium acetate, 1 mM EDTA), immediately frozen in liquid
nitrogen, and stored at 80°C. RNA was extracted from
cell pellets according to the method described in reference
29. Following extraction,
the RNA was subjected to DNA digestion with 5 µl of RNase-free
DNaseI (10 U/µl; Ambion, Austin, TX) according to the
manufacturer's instructions until no residual DNA was detected. RNA
from aerobic cultures was extracted by following the above-described
protocol with late-log-phase cultures (20 h of growth at 30°C)
grown in shake flasks on MM with 20 mM pyruvate. cDNA was synthesized
from 0.5 to 3 µg of RNA by using the SuperScript III RT kit
(Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA) and 50 ng of hexanucleotides per reaction in
a final volume of 20 µl. PCR amplifications were performed
according to the manufacturer's instructions with 25 to 100 ng of cDNA
by using the Siegen PCR kit reagents (QIAGEN GmbH, Germany).
Amplification parameters included denaturation at 94°C for 5
min and 29 cycles at 94°C for 1 min, 50°C for 1 min,
and 72°C for 1.5 min, followed by a final extension step at
72°C for 8 min.
Strain constructions with S. oneidensis MR-1: deletion and complementation of hydA and hyaB.
All genetic work was
carried out according to standard protocols
(36). Kits for the
purification and isolation of plasmids and PCR fragments were obtained
from QIAGEN. Enzymes were purchased from New England Biolabs (Beverly,
MA). Markerless-in-frame-deletion mutants were constructed with the
S. oneidensis MR-1 AS84 or AS92 strain (Table
1) by leaving only short
5' and 3' sections of the target genes as described
previously (45). Briefly,
400- to 500-bp fragments upstream and downstream of hydA and
hyaB were amplified by PCR with the corresponding primer pairs
given in Table
2, ligated, and cloned into the suicide vector pGP704-Sac28-Km. The
resulting plasmids, harboring truncated genes
(pGP704-Sac28-Km::FhydA and
pGP704-Sac28-Km::FhyaB),
were introduced into the strains listed in Table
1 by conjugation with
E. coli S-17
pir. Double recombinants were selected
on LB plates containing 8% sucrose and screened for the gene deletion
by colony PCR using primers flanking the deleted region
(hydA_600F and hydA_2675RC, and hyaB_551F and
hyaB_2981_RC). The resulting deletion mutants lacked
amino acids 19 to 333 (out of 410 amino acids) in HydA and 48 to 397
(out of 567 amino acids) in HyaB, respectively. To complement the
mutations, the corresponding wild-type genes were amplified from S.
oneidensis MR-1 chromosomal DNA by using the
gene-flanking primer pairs for hydA and hyaB
(hydA_824SacI_F and hydA_2725NcoI_RC,
and hyaB_SacI_802F and
hyaB_XbaI_2891RC) and cloned into the suicide vector
pGP704-Sac28-Km. The hydA and hyaB wild-type alleles
were integrated at the chromosomal locus by homologous recombination,
as described above, thereby replacing the deleted allele with a
wild-type copy ("knock-in"
replacement).
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TABLE 2. Primers
used in this study
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FIG. 1. Hydrogen
formation in S. oneidensis MR-1. Hydrogen formation by
wild-type strain AS84 cells grown on MM amended with either 15 mM
pyruvate-15 mM fumarate (squares) or 20 mM pyruvate-10
mM fumarate (diamonds). Open symbols, optical density (600 nm); closed
symbols, H2 formation (µmol). Error bars represent
the standard deviations for results for at least three replicate
cultures in all
experiments.
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FIG. 2. Hydrogen
and formate formation from pyruvate after depletion of fumarate. S.
oneidensis wild type AS84 was grown in 120-ml serum bottles with
50 ml of MM supplemented with 20 mM pyruvate and 10 mM fumarate.
Hydrogen was quantified in headspace samples. (A) Pyruvate
( ) oxidation to acetate ( ). (B) Lactate
(x) and formate ( ) formation. (C) Fumarate
( ) reduction to succinate ( ) and hydrogen ()
formation. The first time point of formate and hydrogen detection as
well as fumarate depletion at 38.5 h is indicated by a dashed
vertical line.
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FIG. 3. Hydrogen
formation from formate in S. oneidensis MR-1. Wild-type AS84
cells were grown on MM with 20 mM pyruvate-10 mM fumarate
(diamonds) and additionally with 10 mM formate (squares). (A)
Optical density at 600 nm (open symbols). (B) Hydrogen
formation (closed symbols). Error bars represent the standard
deviations for results for at least three replicate cultures in all
experiments.
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FIG. 4. Expression
of hydA and hyaB during growth of S.
oneidensis MR-1. Correlation between growth phase (A); fumarate
consumption and hydrogen formation (B); and expression of hydA
(C), hyaB (D), and cymA (E). All RT assays were
performed with 25 ng of cDNA. g, genomic DNA; , S.
oneidensis wild type anaerobic growth with 20 mM pyruvate and 10
mM fumarate; , fumarate concentrations during growth;
, hydrogen formation during growth. Error bars represent the
standard deviations for results for at least three replicate cultures
in all experiments.
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FIG. 5. Control
of expression and transcriptional organization of the hydA and
hyaB genes in S. oneidensis MR-1. (A). Transcription
of hydA and hyaB under aerobic and anaerobic
conditions. g, genomic DNA; +, cDNA synthesis conducted with
reverse transcriptase; , cDNA synthesis conducted without
reverse transcriptase; ae, cDNA library obtained from aerobic cultures;
an, cDNA library obtained from anaerobic cultures. (B)
Physical map and transcriptional organization of the hydA gene
locus in S. oneidensis MR-1. RT-PCR products were obtained
with primers flanking the intergenic regions between hydA
(SO3920) and downstream genes of the hydA operon
(hydB, SO3921; fdh, SO3922; hydG, SO3923;
hydX, SO3924; hydE, SO3925; and hydF,
SO3926). All RT assays were performed with 25 ng of cDNA. (C)
Control reactions for cDNA purity. hydA was amplified from
genomic DNA. +, cDNA synthesis conducted with reverse
transcriptase; , cDNA synthesis conducted without reverse
transcriptase.
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Role of HydA and HyaB in hydrogen formation and consumption.
To examine the role of the two
hydrogenases in hydrogen metabolism in S. oneidensis MR-1, we
constructed and analyzed markerless-in-frame-deletion mutants with the
deletion of hydA (strain AS50) and hyaB (strain AS51)
and the double deletion
hydA
hyaB
(strain AS52). All strains showed similar anaerobic growth rates (0.08
± 0.02 h1), indicating that the
introduced deletions did not affect growth (Fig.
6A). Anaerobic growth experiments were performed with batch cultures in MM
with 20 mM pyruvate and 10 mM fumarate. Hydrogen formation from the
hydA strain AS50 (282 ± 31 µmol
H2 OD600 unit1) was similar
to that from the wild type AS84 (300 ± 44 µmol
H2 OD600 unit1) after
60 h of growth. Significantly smaller amounts of hydrogen
were detected from the
hyaB strain AS51 (70 ±
19 µmol H2 OD600
unit1), and no hydrogen was detected in experiments
using the
hyaB
hydA mutant (AS52),
indicating that HydA and HyaB are the only hydrogenases in S.
oneidensis MR-1 (Fig.
6B). Hydrogen formation in
the
hydA and
hyaB mutants
containing knock-in replacements with the respective wild-type alleles
was restored to the wild-type level (Fig.
6C).
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FIG. 6. Mutant
phenotypes and complementation of hydA,
hyaB, and hydA
hyaB mutations. (A and B) Growth, measured by optical
density increase over time (open symbols) (A), and hydrogen production
(closed symbols) (B) for the S. oneidensis wild type
(diamonds), the hydA mutant (triangles), the
hyaB mutant (squares), and the hydA
hyaB double mutant (circles). (C) Rescue of
the defect in hydrogen formation in hydA,
hyaB, and hydA
hyaB mutants after knock-in complementation (see
Materials and Methods). Error bars represent the standard deviations
for results from three independent
experiments.
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hydA strain (AS50) showed only a slight decrease in
hydrogen formation compared to the wild type (AS84) (Fig.
7). However, the
hyaB mutant (AS51) was severely
deficient in hydrogen formation. The same observation was made when
formate was added (Fig.
7B). Overall, six- to
eightfold less hydrogen was produced from cell suspensions with formate
than from cell suspensions with pyruvate. We also investigated the
consumption of hydrogen in cell suspensions that were amended with
hydrogen and fumarate. Wild-type cells and the
hydA
mutant consumed hydrogen in nearly equal amounts (Fig.
7C). No hydrogen
consumption in the
hyaB mutant (Fig.
7C) or in control
experiments without fumarate (data not shown) was detected. The
hydA
hyaB strain was deficient in
hydrogen formation and consumption as well (data not shown).
Collectively, these experiments showed that HydA and HyaB are the only
two hydrogenases in S. oneidensis MR-1. HydA functions as a
hydrogen-forming hydrogenase, while HyaB functions as bidirectional
hydrogenase.
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FIG. 7. Formation
and consumption of hydrogen in cell suspension experiments with S.
oneidensis MR-1 strains. (A) Hydrogen formation with 10
mM pyruvate as the electron donor. (B) Hydrogen formation
with 10 mM formate as the electron donor. (C) Hydrogen
consumption with 10 mM fumarate as the electron acceptor. Gray bars,
wild-type (WT) cells; black bars, hyaB mutant; white
bars, hydA mutant. Error bars represent the standard
deviations for results from three independent
experiments.
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FIG. 8. RT-PCR
analysis of selected genes involved in pyruvate metabolism in S.
oneidensis MR-1. Transcriptional analysis of pflB
(SO2913) (A), pdh (SO0424) (B), and prdA (SO0968)
(C) at different time points (indicated by numbers) during
the growth of S. oneidensis MR-1 with 20 mM pyruvate and 10 mM
fumarate. All RT assays were performed with 100 ng of cDNA. g, genomic
DNA; nc, negative control (no template
added).
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Effect of pyruvate on anaerobic survival of S. oneidensis MR-1 in stationary phase.
Despite the presence of PFL, S.
oneidensis MR-1 did not grow fermentatively with pyruvate as the
sole catabolic substrate (data not shown). To test whether pyruvate
supplementation affected the viability of stationary-phase cells, we
conducted anaerobic viability experiments with the wild type (AS84) and
the
hydA
hyaB mutant (AS52). When
stationary-phase wild-type cells were incubated in the presence of 10
mM pyruvate, cells remained viable for 3 days before a 65-fold decrease
in the number of CFU was detected on day 4 (Fig.
9). In contrast, wild-type cells incubated without pyruvate showed an
immediate decrease in the counts of viable cells after day 1. By day 4,
the numbers of viable cells had decreased by a factor of 2,000 compared
to those in cultures amended with pyruvate. Similar results were
obtained with the
hydA
hyaB double
mutant.
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FIG. 9. Effect
of pyruvate on the viability of anaerobic, stationary-phase cells of
S. oneidensis MR-1. Cells were grown with equimolar amounts of
pyruvate and fumarate. The S. oneidensis wild type (squares)
and the hydA hyaB double mutant
(circles) were separated from the growth medium and resuspended in
anaerobic MM in rubber stopper-sealed serum bottles with (closed
symbols) and without (open symbols) the addition of 10 mM pyruvate.
Over a time period of 6 days, aliquots were removed daily and the
numbers of viable cells were determined by counting CFU on LB agar
plates. Error bars represent the standard deviations for results from
three independent
experiments.
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hydA
hyaB
double mutant, suggesting that hydrogen production is not required for
stationary-phase
viability. |
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In the S. oneidensis MR-1 genome, two putative hydrogenase gene clusters were identified (16). The hydA cluster (SO3920 to SO3926) encoding the catalytic subunit HydA and the small subunit HydB is predicted to form a periplasmic [Fe-Fe] hydrogenase (16). The presence of an [Fe-Fe] hydrogenase in a facultative microorganism is unique (16). Sequence analysis of the genome of Geobacter sulfurreducens, a metal-reducing microorganism that shares many physiological features with S. oneidensis MR-1 (14), revealed two periplasmic [Ni-Fe] hydrogenases but no [Fe-Fe] hydrogenase (9). HydA in S. oneidensis MR-1 is highly similar to [Fe-Fe] hydrogenases from other Shewanella species (S. decolorationis, Shewanella sp. strain MR-4, and Shewanella sp. strain ANA-3) and other strictly anaerobic microbes, such as Syntrophomonas wolfei, Desulfovibrio vulgaris, and some other Desulfovibrio spp. (17). Interestingly, a gene designated fdh (SO3922) encoding a putative FDH is located in the S. oneidensis MR-1 hydA operon between hydB and the hydGEF genes. The latter genes are predicted to be involved in HydA folding and maturation. This FDH, in conjunction with HydAB, could function as a formate-hydrogen lyase (see below).
The second hydrogenase gene cluster in the S. oneidensis MR-1 genome (SO2098 to SO2099) encodes a putative quinone-reactive, periplasmic [Ni-Fe] hydrogenase (HyaB) with high sequence similarity to the [Ni-Fe] hydrogenases from Thiomicrospira sp., Helicobacter sp., Wolinella succinogenes, and Geobacter metallireducens and the E. coli hydrogenase-2. Our physiological and genetic analyses demonstrated that these two hydrogenases are the only hydrogenases present in S. oneidensis MR-1. HyaB functions as a bidirectional hydrogenase, whereas HydA is a hydrogen-forming hydrogenase only under the anoxic conditions tested. HyaB appears to provide the dominant hydrogenase activity for hydrogen formation in S. oneidensis MR-1. hydA, hydB, and fdh genes were previously reported to be up-regulated four- to sixfold under thiosulfate-reducing conditions in comparison to fumarate-reducing conditions, while hyaB had the same expression level under the different conditions (2). Thus, while HyaB provided the dominant hydrogenase activity under our conditions, HydA might be responsible for most of the hydrogenase activity under thiosulfate-reducing conditions.
A more detailed molecular and physiological analysis of the involvement of HydA and HyaB in hydrogen formation revealed several interesting features. While hydrogen was detected only in cultures or cell suspensions entering stationary phase, the expression of hydA and hyaB was observed already at the beginning of the exponential growth phase (Fig. 5). Since at these time points no hydrogen formation was observed, this finding suggests the involvement of posttranscriptional/-translational mechanisms in the activation of hydrogenase activity in S. oneidensis MR-1. These RT-PCR results for hydA and hyaB expression are consistent with previous findings from whole-genome microarray studies (6, 28); the hydA and hyaB genes were induced after a switch from aerobic growth to growth under fumarate-, Fe(III)-, or nitrate-reducing conditions (3).
While we identified the hydrogenases and their specific roles in hydrogen formation in S. oneidensis MR-1, the analysis of the flow of electrons from the electron donor pyruvate to protons suggests the involvement of several parallel pathways (Fig. 10). Two pyruvate-metabolizing enzyme genes, pfl and pdh, were simultaneously expressed under the anoxic growth conditions (Fig. 8). This pattern is similar to the regulation of these genes in E. coli (7, 18, 37). In addition to these RT-PCR data, the observations that formate is detected in pyruvate-metabolizing cultures (Fig. 2) and that formate addition induces hydrogen formation in the presence of the electron acceptor fumarate (Fig. 3) suggested that one route of electron flow to protons proceeds via formate. Formate could be formed by the activity of an expressed PFL and consumed by an FHL. Our transcriptional analysis revealed that hydA is cotranscribed with fdh (SO3922) (Fig. 5), which is consistent with the two encoded proteins' forming an FHL complex in vivo. FHL in E. coli is also a membrane-associated complex, but FDH is linked to the hydrogenase-3-type [Ni-Fe] hydrogenase (1). Formate dehydrogenases that form complexes with [Fe-Fe] periplasmic hydrogenases were found in Desulfovibrio spp. periplasm, but these were suggested to interact with a c-type cytochrome network instead of directly with the hydrogenases (17). Formate conversion to hydrogen via an FHL in S. oneidensis MR-1 would thermodynamically favor hydrogen formation since the redox potentials of formate and hydrogen are both 420 mV under standard-state conditions (43).
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FIG. 10. Working
model of hydrogen metabolism in stationary phase of S.
oneidensis MR-1 cells grown with pyruvate and fumarate after
electron acceptor depletion. See the text for details. Emphasis is
placed on the roles of the HydA and HyaB hydrogenases and potential
patterns of electron flow from pyruvate. The hypothesis is that HydAB
and FDH, encoded by SO3920 to SO3922, form a periplasm-facing,
membrane-associated complex mediating formate-hydrogen lyase activity.
HyaB is a bifunctional hydrogenase under the experimental conditions
tested. The thickness of the arrow indicates the predominant electron
flow from pyruvate. At this point it is unclear whether or not reducing
equivalents that are not associated with formate can be transferred to
the HydAB-FDH complex and result in hydrogen formation (dotted line).
HydAB-FDH is encoded by SO3920 to SO3922, HyaB by SO2089 to SO2099, PDH
by SO0424, PFL by SO2913, PrdA by SO0968, and FDHs by SO0101to SO0103,
SO4509 to SO4511, or SO4513 to SO4515. OM, outer membrane; CM,
cytoplasmic membrane; aceytl-CoA, acetyl coenzyme
A.
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hydA mutant exhibited only minor reduction in
hydrogen formation (Fig.
6). Furthermore, we
detected formate consumption, which was independent of hydrogen
production, in the
hydA
hyaB double
mutant AS52 (data not shown). FHL-independent formate oxidation could
proceed via one or more of the annotated formate dehydrogenase genes in
clusters SO0101 to SO0103, SO4509 to SO4511, and SO4513 to SO4515.
Those FDHs are predicted to be similar to three-subunit FDH enzymes
that participate in respiration, using either oxygen or nitrate as the
electron acceptor (40).
Hydrogen formation via FDH that uses NAD+ as an
electron acceptor would be thermodynamically less favorable because of
the more-positive redox potential of NADH/NAD+
(E0 = 320 mV)
(43). Moreover, such a
mode of hydrogen formation would significantly reduce the amount of
hydrogen formed unless a reverse electron transport were involved. The
involvement of such reverse electron flow could be inferred
from our results from the experiments using the
protonophore CCCP. In these experiments, we observed a dramatic
decrease in hydrogen formation from pyruvate in the presence of CCCP
while pyruvate utilization was largely unaffected. Such an observation
is consistent with a reverse electron transport's driving formate
oxidation, e.g., via NADH, and hydrogen formation.
However, there
is also hydrogen-independent formate metabolism under electron
acceptor-limiting conditions. In the absence of fumarate, we detected
formate consumption without concomitant hydrogen formation in the
hydA
hyaB double mutant AS52 (data
not shown). In addition, we detected more formate consumption than
hydrogen production in wild-type cultures growing with pyruvate,
fumarate, and formate (7 ± 1.7 µmol of
formate consumed per 1 µmol of H2
produced).
In addition to these two formate-dependent pathways of hydrogen formation from pyruvate, pyruvate oxidation via the expressed PDH would also involve the reduction of NAD+ and the necessity for NADH oxidation for hydrogen formation via a similar mechanism. To this point, the S. oneidensis MR-1 PDH has not been studied in detail. A third pyruvate-metabolizing enzyme, the pyruvate reductase (SO0968), was also identified (Fig. 8), and lactate formation from pyruvate was observed under those conditions, i.e., growth with pyruvate and fumarate (Fig. 2). In this third electron pathway, one molecule of pyruvate would be oxidized and a second molecule of pyruvate would be reduced to lactate. Regardless of the exact path of electron flow to protons, all operating pathways of pyruvate oxidation result in the generation of acetyl coenzyme A, which can then be converted to acetate, thereby enabling the microorganism to conserve one ATP molecule. Acetate is a known end product under anoxic conditions in S. oneidensis (39).
In summary, our data show that under fumarate-limiting conditions, which are frequently encountered by Shewanella species in organically rich environments, the processes of the metabolism of pyruvate, hydrogen, and formate are intrinsically linked, presumably by parallel and overlapping electron transport pathways (Fig. 10). A flow of reducing equivalents from formate to protons via an FHL, including HydA, is probably of only minor importance for hydrogen formation under these conditions, while most hydrogen is formed via HyaB. It is interesting to note that the operation of multiple parallel electron-transferring pathways appears to be a general feature of Shewanella species metabolism. Anoxic conditions lead to the expression of numerous anaerobic terminal oxidoreductases, regardless of whether the specific electron acceptors are present (2, 3).
Pyruvate metabolism as we describe here appears to play a significant role in the survival of S. oneidensis MR-1 under stationary-phase conditions (Fig. 9). The addition of pyruvate to a stationary-phase wild-type culture yielded about 1 µmol of H2 per 4 µmol of pyruvate (data not shown). Recent reports on the anaerobic survival of the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa described a similar phenomenon. While pyruvate does not support growth, long-term survival of up to 18 days was enhanced by pyruvate fermentation (13, 38). We were not able to account for all the pyruvate metabolized by stationary-phase cells, suggesting that a so-far-undocumented, hydrogen-independent pyruvate metabolism process is occurring. However, in S. oneidensis MR-1, hydrogen formation is not essential for survival during stationary phase (Fig. 9).
The ability of S. oneidensis MR-1 to also produce hydrogen under anaerobic, fumarate-limiting conditions is significant in that hydrogen is a key electron donor for other important anaerobic reductive transformations, such as the reductive dehalogenation of chloroethenes and chloroaromatic compounds (8, 25, 42). Therefore, S. oneidensis MR-1 and perhaps other Shewanella species may, next to their role in heavy-metal transformations, also play a role as fermenting microorganisms in providing hydrogen to mixed microbial communities.
This work was supported by a grant from the Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP), Stanford University.
Published ahead of print on 22 December 2006. ![]()
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