Phospholipids of Thiobacillus thiooxidans

Cells and spent growth media from sulfur- and thiosulfate-grown cultures of Thiobacillus thiooxidans were analyzed. The phosphatides were examined by thinlayer chromatography, and the products of their hydrolysis by hydrochloric acid and methanolic potassium hydroxide were separated by paper chromatography. The phospholipids in both cells and spent growth media were identified as phosphatidyl ethanolamine, phosphatidyl-N-monomethylethanolamine, phosphatidyl glycerol, and diphosphatidyl glycerol. These comprised about 97% of the total lipid phosphorus. Lyso-phosphatidyl-N-monomethylethanolamine and lysophosphatidyl glycerol accounted for the remaining 3%. The percentage of the total lipid phosphorus accounted for by each phospholipid depended on the age of the culture.     

氧化硫硫杆菌的研究进展

综述了氧化硫硫杆菌(Thiobacillus thiooxidans,T.t)培养方法和应用方面的研究进展。     

Fine Structure of Thiobacillus thiooxidans

Mahoney, Robert P. (Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.), and Mercedes R. Edwards. Fine structure of Thiobacillus thiooxidans. J. Bacteriol. 92: 487-495. 1966.-Thin section analysis of the chemosynthetic autotroph Thiobacillus thiooxidans revealed structures comparable to gram-negative heterotrophic bacteria. Although this species is unique in that it oxidizes elemental sulfur for energy, uses carbon dioxide as its sole source of carbon, and can withstand a pH of less than 1, thin sections revealed a profile of the cell envelope (cell wall and plasmalemma) similar to other gram-negative species which have more common physiological traits. The cell wall is composed of five layers with an overall width of approximately 200 A, and the plasmalemma appears as a conventional "unit membrane" with a width of about 85 A. Volutin granules and less-dense bodies of similar shape and size were frequently observed in close association with the nucleoplasm. The nature and function of these bodies are unknown at this time.     

Fatty Acids of Thiobacillus thiooxidans

Fatty acid spectra were made on Thiobacillus thiooxidans cultures both in the presence and absence of organic compounds. Small additions of glucose or acetate had no significant effect either on growth or fatty acid content. The addition of biotin had no stimulatory effect but did result in slight quantitative changes in the fatty acid spectrum. The predominant fatty acid was a C₁₉ cyclopropane acid.     

Extracellular Lipid of Thiobacillus thiooxidans

The extracellular lipid of Thiobacillus thiooxidans is a heterogeneous mixture of phospholipid and neutral lipid, primarily free fatty acids.     

抗砷载体的构建及在喜温硫杆菌中的接合转移

利用DNA体外重组技术,将质粒载体pUM3上的抗砷基因片段亚克隆到含有强启动子(tae启动子)并具有广泛寄主范围特性的IncQ族质粒pMMB24上,成功构建了含有强启动子的抗砷质粒pSDRA3,以及删除调节基因片段的组成型表达的抗砷质粒pSDRA4。通过接合转移的方式将其导入专性自养极端嗜酸性的喜温硫杆菌中,首次成功地建立了喜温硫杆菌的遗传转移系统,构建了冶金工程菌T.caldus(pSDRA3)和T．caldus(pSDRA4)。与野生菌相比,重组菌抗砷性能明显提高。     

Combined degradation of covellite by Thiobacillus thiooxidans and Thiobacillus ferrooxidans

Summary In the presence of iron, which is always associated with natural sulphide ores, the percentages of copper dissolution in the bioleaching of covellite were 34 and 45 % when Thiobacillus thiooxidans and Thiobacillus ferrooxidans were used together and when an indirect bioleaching with attached bacteria was performed respectively. In the latter, the percentage of copper dissolution was still higher than the percentages obtained with pure cultures (36 % with a T. thiooxidans culture and 40 % with a T. ferrooxidans culture).     

Preservation of Thiobacillus ferroxidans and Thiobacillus thiooxidans with activity check

Cultures of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans and Thiobacillus thiooxidans, used in biohydrometallurgical processes of economic importance, are very difficult to preserve by conventional methods. Hence, to preserve the cultures with their activity intact, various techniques were tried, after determining their respective activity in terms of Iron Oxidation Rate (IOR) and Sulfur Oxidation Rate (SOR). Among the methods tested, along with the recommended method of serial transfer in a liquid medium, were methods such as lyophilization, storage in a liquid nitrogen and mixing with sterile, inert carriers like lignite or chalcopyrite ores. After a period check-up at 4 months and 8 months storage, it was found that out of these methods, mixing with sterile ore followed by storage at 8°C, kept both types of activities intact. The temperature of storage was observed to have a definite effect on activity, in that when the preserved cultures were stored at 8°C, the activity was retained, whereas at 28–30°C (RT) storage, the activity of all the cultures preserved by various techniques, dropped significantly.     

Acidostability of spheroplasts prepared from Thiobacillus thiooxidans

Thiobacillus thiooxidans was acidostable even in the absence of its respiratory substrate, elementary sulfur. This suggests that the acidostability of the bacterium was energy-independent. The organism was subjected to osmotic shock with 0.75 M sucrose at 0°C and then treated with snail intestinal juice in the presence of 0.3 M sucrose. The decrease in the optical density of the sample thus prepared on dilution with deionized water and electron microscopic observation of the sample showed that spheroplasts were formed from the bacterium by this procedure. Spheroplasts were able to respire sulfur and their respiratory activity was acidostable. Spheroplasts, when treated with Nagase, proteolytic enzyme, lost their acidostability, and some protein components disappeared from the membrane fraction. This suggests that the acidostability of the bacterium may be related to protein components of the membrane.     

Direct zinc sulphide bioleaching by Thiobacillus ferrooxidans and Thiobacillus thiooxidans

Summary Direct bioleaching (no iron(II) present) by Thiobacillus ferrooxidans mainly occurs on the surface of the very insoluble sulphides but is more important in solution when the sulphides are more soluble. In this case, Thiobacillus thiooxidans, normally not able to leach directly insoluble sulphides, has an effective leaching action.     

Oxidation of Elemental Sulfur to Sulfite by Thiobacillus thiooxidans Cells

Thiobacillus thiooxidans cells oxidized elemental sulfur to sulfite, with 1 mol of O₂ consumption per mol of sulfur oxidized to sulfite, when the oxidation of sulfite was inhibited with 2-n-heptyl-4-hydroxyquinoline N-oxide.     

Basis of pyruvate inhibition in Thiobacillus thiooxidans

Addition of 10(-3)m pyruvic acid to cultures of Thiobacillus thiooxidans, at pH 2.3, results in its rapid intracellular accumulation and in the cessation of sulfur oxidation, CO(2) fixation, and oxygen consumption; at pH 7.0, pyruvate neither inhibits oxygen uptake nor accumulates appreciably intracellularly. Pyruvate does not affect CO(2) fixation in cell-free extracts. The data suggest that the cells of T. thiooxidans are passively permeable to pyruvic acid at low pH. Thus entry of pyruvic acid causes accumulation of pyruvate with a concomitant decrease in intracellular pH.     

Isolation of an Ornithine-containing Lipid from Thiobacillus thiooxidans

The ornithine-containing lipid was separated from the other lipids of Thiobacillus thiooxidans by thin-layer chromatography. The aminolipid possesses both amide and ester linkages.