Characterization of Fe(Ⅲ)-Reducing Enrichment Cultures and Isolation of Enterobacter sp. Nan-1 from the Deep-Sea Sediment, South China Sea

To characterize the Fe(III)-reducing bacteria,enrichment cultures were initiated by inoculating deep-sea sediment from the South China Sea(SCS)into the media with hydrous ferric oxide(HFO)as the sole electron acceptor.As indicated by Meta 16S rDNA Amplicon Sequencing,the microorganisms related to Fe(III)-reduction in the enrichment cultures were mainly Shewanella and Enterobacter.A new facultative Fe(III)-reducing bacterium was obtained and identified as Enterobacter sp.Nan-1 based on its 16S rRNA gene sequence and physiological characterizations.Enterobacter sp.Nan-1 was not only a mesophilic bacterium capable of reducing HFO with a wide range of salinity(4,34,40,50 and 60 g L−1)efficiently,but also a piezotolerant bacterium that can proceed Fe(III)-reduction sustainedly at hydrostatic pressures between 0.1 and 50 MPa using glucose and pyruvate as carbon source.Furthermore,the geochemical characteristics of deep-sea sediment indicated that the microbial metabolism and iron reduction both remain active in the well-developed Fe(III)-reducing zone where the strain Nan-1 was obtained.To our knowledge,Enterobacter sp.Nan-1 could serve as a new applicative Fe(III)-reducing bacterium for future investigation on the iron biogeochemical cycle and diagenetic process of organic matter in the deep-sea environment.

The in situ spectral methods for examining redox status of c-type cytochromes in metal-reducing/oxidizing bacteria

The membrane-associated c-type cytochromes(c-Cyts) have been well known as the key enzymes mediating extracellular electron transfer to terminal electron acceptors, resulting in biogeochemical elemental transformation, contaminant degradation, and nutrient cycling. Although c-Cyts-mediated metal reduction or oxidation have been mainly investigated with the purified proteins of metal reducing/oxidizing bacteria, the in vivo behavior of c-Cyts is still unclear, given the difficulty in measuring the proteins of intact cells. Fortunately, the in situ spectroscopy would be ideal for measuring the reaction kinetics of c-Cyts in intact cells under noninvasive physiological conditions. It can also help the establishment of kinetic/thermodynamic models of extracellular electron transfer processes, which are essential to understand the electron transfer mechanisms at the molecular scale. This review briefly summarizes the current advances in spectral methods for examining the c-Cyts in intact cells of dissimilatory metal reducing bacteria and Fe(Ⅱ)-oxidizing bacteria.