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Bacterial Sulfur Globules: Occurrence, Structure and Metabolism

  • Chapter
Inclusions in Prokaryotes

Part of the book series: Microbiology Monographs ((MICROMONO,volume 1))

Abstract

Reduced sulfur compounds such as sulfide, polysulfides, thiosulfate, polythionates, and elemental sulfur are oxidized by a large and diverse group of prokaryotes, including the phototrophic sulfur bacteria, the thiobacilli and other colorless sulfur bacteria and some thermophilic Archaea. Typically, these sulfur compounds are oxidized to sulfate but in many cases globules of polymeric, water-insoluble sulfur accumulate as a transient and sometimes as the final product. While phototrophic bacteria of the families Chlorobiaceae and Ectothiorhodospiraceae, some Rhodospirillaceae and some thiobacilli form extracellular sulfur globules, sulfur is stored intracellularly in purple sulfur bacteria of the family Chromatiaceae, in Beggiatoa species and in the “morphologically conspicuous” sulfur bacteria (e.g., Thioploca, Achromatium, Macromonas, Thiovulum). Our understanding of sulfur globule formation from sulfide, thiosulfate and tetrathionate (the latter occurs in acidophilic thiobacilli) is far from complete and suffers mainly from the uncertainties that exist about the exact chemical nature of the sulfur in the globules, the exact intracellular localization of internal sulfur deposits and the mechanisms to adhere to, attack and take up extracellular sulfur. The only fairly well described enzyme system involved in oxidative decomposition of intracellular sulfur globules is encoded by the 15 dissimilatory sulfite reductase (dsr) genes of the anoxygenic phototrophic purple sulfur bacterium Allochromatium vinosum.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Mikrobiologie und Biotechnologie, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Meckenheimer Allee 168, 53115, Bonn, Germany

    Christiane Dahl

  2. Mikrobiologie und Lebensmittelhygiene, Fachbereich Oecotrophologie, Hochschule Niederrhein, Rheydter Straße 277, 41065, Mönchengladbach, Germany

    Alexander Prange

  3. The J. Bennett Johnston, Sr. Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices (CAMD), Louisiana State University, 6980 Jefferson Highway, Baton Rouge, LA, 70806, USA

    Alexander Prange

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  1. Christiane Dahl
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  2. Alexander Prange
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genetics and Biochemistry, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, 29634, USA

    Jessup M. Shively (Prof. Emeritus of Biochemistry) (Prof. Emeritus of Biochemistry)

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Dedicated to our esteemed academic teacher Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Dr. phil. Dr. rer. nat. h.c. Hans G. Trüper, Bonn, on the occasion of his 70th birthday on March 16th, 2006, for his fundamental work on microbial sulfur metabolism and encouraging support of his students.

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Dahl, C., Prange, A. (2006). Bacterial Sulfur Globules: Occurrence, Structure and Metabolism. In: Shively, J.M. (eds) Inclusions in Prokaryotes. Microbiology Monographs, vol 1. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-33774-1_2

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