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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 1999, p. 5100-5106, Vol. 65, No. 11
0099-2240/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Substrate Uptake by Uncultured Bacteria from the Genus Achromatium Determined by Microautoradiography

N. D. Gray,1,2 R. Howarth,1,2 R. W. Pickup,3 J. Gwyn Jones,4 and I. M. Head1,2,*

Fossil Fuels and Environmental Geochemistry Postgraduate Institute (NRG)1 and Centre for Molecular Ecology,2 University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, and Institute of Freshwater Ecology3 and Freshwater Biological Association,4 Windermere Laboratories, Far Sawrey, Ambleside, Cumbria LA22 0LP, United Kingdom

Received 23 March 1999/Accepted 21 July 1999

Microautoradiography was used to investigate substrate uptake by natural communities of uncultured bacteria from the genus Achromatium. Studies of the uptake of 14C-labelled substrates demonstrated that Achromatium cells from freshwater sediments were able to assimilate 14C from bicarbonate, acetate, and protein hydrolysate; however, 14C-labelled glucose was not assimilated. The pattern of substrate uptake by Achromatium spp. was therefore similar to those of a number of other freshwater and marine sulfur-oxidizing bacteria. Different patterns of radiolabelled bicarbonate uptake were noted for Achromatium communities from different geographical locations and indicated that one community (Rydal Water) possessed autotrophic potential, while the other (Hell Kettles) did not. Furthermore, the patterns of organic substrate uptake within a single population suggested that physiological diversity existed in natural communities of Achromatium. These observations are consistent with and may relate to the phylogenetic diversity observed in Achromatium communities. Incubation of Achromatium-bearing sediment cores from Rydal Water with 35S-labelled sulfate in the presence and absence of sodium molybdate demonstrated that this bacterial population was capable of oxidizing sulfide to intracellular elemental sulfur. This finding supported the role of Achromatium in the oxidative component of a tightly coupled sulfur cycle in Rydal Water sediment. The oxidation of sulfide to sulfur and ultimately to sulfate by Achromatium cells from Rydal Water sediment is consistent with an ability to conserve energy from sulfide oxidation.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Fossil Fuels and Environmental Geochemistry Postgraduate Institute (NRG), University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, United Kingdom. Phone: 44 (0) 191 222 7024. Fax: 44 (0) 191 222 5431. E-mail: i.m.head{at}newcastle.ac.uk.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 1999, p. 5100-5106, Vol. 65, No. 11
0099-2240/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Hesselsoe, M., Nielsen, J. L., Roslev, P., Nielsen, P. H. (2005). Isotope Labeling and Microautoradiography of Active Heterotrophic Bacteria on the Basis of Assimilation of 14CO2. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 646-655 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Gray, N. D., Howarth, R., Pickup, R. W., Jones, J. G., Head, I. M. (2000). Use of Combined Microautoradiography and Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization To Determine Carbon Metabolism in Mixed Natural Communities of Uncultured Bacteria from the Genus Achromatium. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 66: 4518-4522 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
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