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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 2005, p. 3458-3467, Vol. 71, No. 7
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.7.3458-3467.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Anaerobic n-Alkane Metabolism by a Sulfate-Reducing Bacterium, Desulfatibacillum aliphaticivorans Strain CV2803T

Cristiana Cravo-Laureau,1,{dagger} Vincent Grossi,2* Danielle Raphel,2 Robert Matheron,1 and Agnès Hirschler-Réa1,{ddagger}

Laboratoire de Microbiologie, IMEP, UMR CNRS 6116, Université Paul Cézanne, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques de Saint-Jérôme, case 452, 13397 Marseille, France,1 Laboratoire de Microbiologie, Géochimie et Ecologie Marines, UMR CNRS 6117, Centre d'Océanologie de Marseille (OSU), Campus de Luminy, case 901, 13288 Marseille, France2

Received 19 October 2004/ Accepted 19 January 2005

The alkane-degrading, sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfatibacillum aliphaticivorans strain CV2803T, recently isolated from marine sediments, was investigated for n-alkane metabolism. The total cellular fatty acids of this strain had predominantly odd numbers of carbon atoms (C odd) when the strain was grown on a C-odd alkane (pentadecane) and even numbers of carbon atoms (C even) when it was grown on a C-even alkane (hexadecane). Detailed analyses of those fatty acids by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry allowed us to identify saturated 2-, 4-, 6-, and 8-methyl- and monounsaturated 6-methyl-branched fatty acids, with chain lengths that specifically correlated with those of the alkane. Growth of D. aliphaticivorans on perdeuterated hexadecane demonstrated that those methyl-branched fatty acids were directly derived from the substrate. In addition, cultures on pentadecane and hexadecane produced (1-methyltetradecyl)succinate and (1-methylpentadecyl)succinate, respectively. These results indicate that D. aliphaticivorans strain CV2803T oxidizes n-alkanes into fatty acids anaerobically, via the addition of fumarate at C-2. Based on our observations and on literature data, a pathway for anaerobic n-alkane metabolism by D. aliphaticivorans is proposed. This involves the transformation of the initial alkylsuccinate into a 4-methyl-branched fatty acid which, in addition to catabolic reactions, can alternatively undergo chain elongation and desaturation to form storage fatty acids.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratoire de Microbiologie, Géochimie et Ecologie Marines, UMR CNRS 6117, Centre d'Océanologie de Marseille (OSU), Campus de Luminy, case 901, 13288 Marseille cedex 09, France. Phone: 33 4 91 82 96 51. Fax: 33 4 91 82 96 41. E-mail: grossi{at}com.univ-mrs.fr.

{dagger} Present address: Laboratoire d'Ecologie Moléculaire EA3525, IBEAS, Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour, BP 1155, 64013 Pau, France.

{ddagger} Present address: Laboratoire de Microbiologie IRD, IFR-BAIM, Universités de Provence et de la Méditerranée, 163 avenue de Luminy, case 925, 13288 Marseille, France.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, July 2005, p. 3458-3467, Vol. 71, No. 7
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.7.3458-3467.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

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