Molybdate treatment and sulfate starvation decrease ATP and DNA levels in Ferroplasma acidarmanus
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Authors: | David J Baumler Kai-Foong Hung Kwang Cheol Jeong Charles W Kaspar |
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Institution: | 1. Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA;2. Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA |
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Abstract: | Sulfate is a primary source of sulfur for most microbes and in some
prokaryotes it is used an electron acceptor. The acidophile
Ferroplasma acidarmanus (strain fer1) requires a
minimum of 150 mM of a sulfate-containing salt for growth. Sulfate is
assimilated by F. acidarmanus into proteins and
reduced to form the volatile organic sulfur compounds methanethiol and
dimethyldisulfide. In the absence of sulfate, cell death occurs by an
unknown mechanism. In this study, cell viability and genomic DNA and
ATP contents of F. acidarmanus were monitored in
response to the absence of sulfate or the presence of sulfate and the
sulfate analog molybdate (
). Cellular DNA and ATP contents were monitored as markers of cell
viability. The absence of sulfate led to a decrease in viable cell
numbers of greater than 7 log10 within 5 days, a > 99%
reduction in genomic DNA within 3 days, and a > 60% decrease in ATP
within 6 h. Likewise, cells incubated with lost viability (decreased
by > 2 log10 in 5 days), extractable genomic DNA
(reduction of > 60% in 2 days), and ATP (reduction of > 70 % in
2 hours). These results demonstrate that sulfate deprivation or the
presence of molybdate have similar impacts on cell viability and
essential biomolecules. Sulfate was coupled to cellular ATP content
and maintenance of DNA integrity in F. acidarmanus, a
finding that may be applicable to other acidophiles that are typically
found in sulfate-rich biotopes. |
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Keywords: | archaea acidophile Ferroplasma sulfate sulfur |
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