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 Holmes, D. E.
Right arrow Articles by Lovley, D. R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Holmes, D. E.
Right arrow Articles by Lovley, D. R.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Holmes, D. E.
Right arrow Articles by Lovley, D. R.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 2004, p. 7251-7259, Vol. 70, No. 12
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.12.7251-7259.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

In Situ Expression of nifD in Geobacteraceae in Subsurface Sediments

Dawn E. Holmes,* Kelly P. Nevin, and Derek R. Lovley

Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts

Received 11 May 2004/ Accepted 13 July 2004

In order to determine whether the metabolic state of Geobacteraceae involved in bioremediation of subsurface sediments might be inferred from levels of mRNA for key genes, in situ expression of nifD, a highly conserved gene involved in nitrogen fixation, was investigated. When Geobacter sulfurreducens was grown without a source of fixed nitrogen in chemostats with acetate provided as the limiting electron donor and Fe(III) as the electron acceptor, levels of nifD transcripts were 4 to 5 orders of magnitude higher than in chemostat cultures provided with ammonium. In contrast, the number of transcripts of recA and the 16S rRNA gene were slightly lower in the absence of ammonium. The addition of acetate to organic- and nitrogen-poor subsurface sediments stimulated the growth of Geobacteraceae and Fe(III) reduction, as well as the expression of nifD in Geobacteraceae. Levels of nifD transcripts in Geobacteraceae decreased more than 100-fold within 2 days after the addition of 100 µM ammonium, while levels of recA and total bacterial 16S rRNA in Geobacteraceae remained relatively constant. Ammonium amendments had no effect on rates of Fe(III) reduction in acetate-amended sediments or toluene degradation in petroleum-contaminated sediments, suggesting that other factors, such as the rate that Geobacteraceae could access Fe(III) oxides, limited Fe(III) reduction. These results demonstrate that it is possible to monitor one aspect of the in situ metabolic state of Geobacteraceae species in subsurface sediments via analysis of mRNA levels, which is the first step toward a more global analysis of in situ gene expression related to nutrient status and stress response during bioremediation by Geobacteraceae.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology, 103B Morrill IV North, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003. Phone: (413) 577-0447. Fax: (413) 545-1578. E-mail: dholmes{at}microbio.umass.edu.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, December 2004, p. 7251-7259, Vol. 70, No. 12
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.12.7251-7259.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Freitag, T. E., Prosser, J. I. (2009). Correlation of Methane Production and Functional Gene Transcriptional Activity in a Peat Soil. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75: 6679-6687 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Yagi, J. M., Madsen, E. L. (2009). Diversity, Abundance, and Consistency of Microbial Oxygenase Expression and Biodegradation in a Shallow Contaminated Aquifer. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75: 6478-6487 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Villanueva, L., Haveman, S. A., Summers, Z. M., Lovley, D. R. (2008). Quantification of Desulfovibrio vulgaris Dissimilatory Sulfite Reductase Gene Expression during Electron Donor- and Electron Acceptor-Limited Growth. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 5850-5853 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Risso, C., Methe, B. A., Elifantz, H., Holmes, D. E., Lovley, D. R. (2008). Highly conserved genes in Geobacter species with expression patterns indicative of acetate limitation. Microbiology 154: 2589-2599 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Haveman, S. A., DiDonato, R. J. Jr., Villanueva, L., Shelobolina, E. S., Postier, B. L., Xu, B., Liu, A., Lovley, D. R. (2008). Genome-Wide Gene Expression Patterns and Growth Requirements Suggest that Pelobacter carbinolicus Reduces Fe(III) Indirectly via Sulfide Production. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 4277-4284 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Holmes, D. E., Mester, T., O'Neil, R. A., Perpetua, L. A., Larrahondo, M. J., Glaven, R., Sharma, M. L., Ward, J. E., Nevin, K. P., Lovley, D. R. (2008). Genes for two multicopper proteins required for Fe(III) oxide reduction in Geobacter sulfurreducens have different expression patterns both in the subsurface and on energy-harvesting electrodes. Microbiology 154: 1422-1435 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Luo, Q., Groh, J. L., Ballard, J. D., Krumholz, L. R. (2007). Identification of Genes That Confer Sediment Fitness to Desulfovibrio desulfuricans G20. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 6305-6312 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • DiDonato, L. N., Sullivan, S. A., Methe, B. A., Nevin, K. P., England, R., Lovley, D. R. (2006). Role of RelGsu in Stress Response and Fe(III) Reduction in Geobacter sulfurreducens. J. Bacteriol. 188: 8469-8478 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Haveman, S. A., Holmes, D. E., Ding, Y.-H. R., Ward, J. E., DiDonato, R. J. Jr., Lovley, D. R. (2006). c-Type Cytochromes in Pelobacter carbinolicus. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 6980-6985 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Lee, P. K. H., Johnson, D. R., Holmes, V. F., He, J., Alvarez-Cohen, L. (2006). Reductive Dehalogenase Gene Expression as a Biomarker for Physiological Activity of Dehalococcoides spp.. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 6161-6168 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Holmes, D. E., Nevin, K. P., O'Neil, R. A., Ward, J. E., Adams, L. A., Woodard, T. L., Vrionis, H. A., Lovley, D. R. (2005). Potential for Quantifying Expression of the Geobacteraceae Citrate Synthase Gene To Assess the Activity of Geobacteraceae in the Subsurface and on Current-Harvesting Electrodes. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 6870-6877 [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»