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Metabolism of the thermophilic bacterium Oceanithermus profundus

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Abstract

The metabolism of the novel facultatively anaerobic thermophilic bacterium Oceanithermus profundus was studied during growth on maltose, acetate, pyruvate, and hydrogen. The utilization of carbohydrates was shown to proceed via the glycolytic pathway. Under microaerobic growth conditions, the metabolism of O. profundus grown on maltose depended on the substrate concentration. At an initial maltose concentration of 1.4 mM, O. profundus carried out oxygen respiration, and in the presence of 3.5 mM maltose, facilitated fermentation occurred, with the formation of acetate and ethanol and limited involvement of oxygen. The use of pyruvate and acetate occurred via the TCA cycle. In cells grown on acetate, the activity of glyoxylate pathway enzymes was revealed. Depending on the energy-yielding process providing for growth (oxygen respiration or nitrate reduction), cells contained cytochromes a and c or b, respectively. The results obtained demonstrate the plasticity of the metabolism of O. profundus, which thus appears to be well-adjusted to the rapidly changing conditions in deep-sea hydrothermal vents.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Voronezh State University, Universitetskaya pl. 1, Voronezh, 394893, Russia

    D. V. Fedosov, D. A. Podkopaeva & M. Yu. Grabovich

  2. Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, pr. 60-letiya Oktyabrya 7, k. 2, Moscow, 117312, Russia

    M. L. Miroshnichenko, E. A. Bonch-Osmolovskaya & A. V. Lebedinsky

Authors
  1. D. V. Fedosov
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  2. D. A. Podkopaeva
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  3. M. L. Miroshnichenko
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  4. E. A. Bonch-Osmolovskaya
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  5. A. V. Lebedinsky
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  6. M. Yu. Grabovich
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Correspondence to M. Yu. Grabovich.

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Original Russian Text © D.V. Fedosov, D.A. Podkopaeva, M.L. Miroshnichenko, E.A. Bonch-Osmolovskaya, A.V. Lebedinsky, M.Yu. Grabovich, 2008, published in Mikrobiologiya, 2008, Vol. 77, No. 2, pp. 188–195.

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Fedosov, D.V., Podkopaeva, D.A., Miroshnichenko, M.L. et al. Metabolism of the thermophilic bacterium Oceanithermus profundus . Microbiology 77, 159–165 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0026261708020069

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