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Proteomic insights into cold adaptation of psychrotrophic and mesophilic Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans strains

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Abstract

Cold tolerant strains of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans play a role in metal leaching and acid mine drainage (AMD) production in northern latitude/boreal mining environments. In this study we used a proteomics and bioinformatics approach to decipher the proteome changes related to sustained growth at low temperatures to increase our understanding of cold adaptation mechanisms in A. ferrooxidans strains. Changes in protein abundance in response to low temperatures (5 and 15°C) were monitored and protein analyses of a psychrotrophic strain (D6) versus a mesophilic strain (F1) showed that both strains increased levels of 11 stress-related and metabolic proteins including survival protein SurA, trigger factor Tig, and AhpC-Tsa antioxidant proteins. However, a unique set of changes in the proteome of psychrotrophic strain D6 were observed. In particular, the importance of protein fate, membrane transport and structure for psychrotrophic growth were evident with increases in numerous chaperone and transport proteins including GroEL, SecB, ABC transporters and a capsule polysaccharide export protein. We also observed that low temperature iron oxidation coincides with a relative increase in the key iron metabolism protein rusticyanin, which was more highly expressed in strain D6 than in strain F1 at colder growth temperatures. We demonstrate that the psychrotrophic strain uses a global stress response and cold-active metabolism which permit growth of A. ferrooxidans in the extreme AMD environment in colder climates.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Mireille Petit for additional support in the proteomic work and Luc Tessier for assistance with mass spectrometry instrumentation. This research is supported by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) through a Discovery grant held by LGL and GDF, a Canadian Graduate Scholarship awarded to NCSM, and the National Research Council of Canada. We also gratefully acknowledge the infrastructure support from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the Ontario Challenge Fund (OCF) and the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Natural Resource Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada, H9X 3V9

    Nadia C. S. Mykytczuk

  2. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada

    Jack T. Trevors

  3. Division of Medical Sciences, Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Laurentian Campus, Sudbury, ON, P3E 2C6, Canada

    Garry D. Ferroni

  4. Institute for Biological Sciences, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0R6, Canada

    Simon J. Foote & Susan M. Twine

  5. Department of Biology, Laurentian University, Sudbury, ON, P3E 2C6, Canada

    Leo G. Leduc

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  1. Nadia C. S. Mykytczuk
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Correspondence to Nadia C. S. Mykytczuk.

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Mykytczuk, N.C.S., Trevors, J.T., Foote, S.J. et al. Proteomic insights into cold adaptation of psychrotrophic and mesophilic Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans strains. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 100, 259–277 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-011-9584-z

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