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The Positive Effect of Exogenous Hemin on a Resistance of Strict Anaerobic Archaeon Methanobrevibacter arboriphilus to Oxidative Stresses

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Abstract

Methanogenic archaeon Methanobrevibacter arboriphilus (strains AZ and DH1), which is a strict anaerobic microorganism not able to synthesize heme, possessed a very high catalase activity in the presence of 20–50 μM hemin in a growth medium. We investigated the effect of various oxidative stresses (hydrogen peroxide and oxygenation) on M. arboriphilus cells grown on the standard nutrient medium supplemented with 0.1 % yeast extract, and on the same medium supplemented with hemin. It was demonstrated that 30 μM hemin had a very significant positive effect on the resistance of M. arboriphilus strains to H2O2 and O2 stresses because of 30- to 40-fold increase of heme catalase activity. Thus, hydrogen peroxide (0.6–1.2 mM) or oxygen (3–5 %) had a strong negative impact on low-catalase cultures grown in the hemin-free standard medium, whereas the presence of 30 μM hemin in the medium results in a high yield of biomass even under conditions of four times stronger H2O2 and two times stronger O2 stresses. The intracellular catalase activity reached a high level in 30–60 min after hemin was added to the nutrient medium, but the activity already increased about 5–7-fold in 6 min after hemin addition. Our experimental data suggest that exogenous hemin provides an effective antioxidative defense in representatives of the genus Methanobrevibacter, specially playing an important role in the puromycin-insensitive formation of the active heme-containing catalase from presynthesized apoenzyme and heme.

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  1. Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory 1/12, Moscow, Russia, 119234

    Andrei L. Brioukhanov & Alexander I. Netrusov

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  1. Andrei L. Brioukhanov
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  2. Alexander I. Netrusov
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Correspondence to Andrei L. Brioukhanov.

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Brioukhanov, A.L., Netrusov, A.I. The Positive Effect of Exogenous Hemin on a Resistance of Strict Anaerobic Archaeon Methanobrevibacter arboriphilus to Oxidative Stresses. Curr Microbiol 65, 375–383 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-012-0168-6

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