Journal
ARCHIVES OF MICROBIOLOGY
Volume 192, Issue 12, Pages 1005-1018Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s00203-010-0629-x
Keywords
Acid mine drainage; Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans; Adaptation; Cold stress; Membrane fluidity
Categories
Funding
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
- Canadian Graduate Scholarship
- Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI)
- Ontario Challenge Fund (OCF)
- Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM)
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Psychrotrophic strains of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans have an important role in metal leaching and acid mine drainage (AMD) production in colder mining environments. We investigated cytoplasmic membrane fluidity and fatty acid alterations in response to low temperatures (5 and 15A degrees C). Significant differences in membrane fluidity, measured by polarization (P) of 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH), were found where the psychrotrophic strains had a significantly more rigid membrane (P range = 0.41-0.45) and lower transition temperature midpoints (T (m) = 2.0A degrees C) and broader transition range than the mesophilic strains (P range = 0.38-0.39; T (m) = 2.0-18A degrees C) at cold temperatures. Membrane remodeling was evident in all strains with a common trend of increased unsaturated fatty acid component in response to lower growth temperatures. In psychrotrophic strains, decreases in 12:0 fatty acids distinguished the 5A degrees C fatty acid profiles from those of the mesophilic strains that showed decreases in 16:0, 17:0, and cyclo-19:0 fatty acids. These changes were also correlated with the observed changes in membrane fluidity (R (2) = 63-97%). Psychrotrophic strains employ distinctive modulation of cytoplasmic membrane fluidity with uncommon membrane phase changes as part of their adaptation to the extreme AMD environment in colder climates.
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