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A stable genetic polymorphism underpinning microbial syntrophy
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Großkopf, Tobias, Zenobi, Simone, Alston, Mark, Folkes, Leighton, Swarbreck, David and Soyer, Orkun S. (2016) A stable genetic polymorphism underpinning microbial syntrophy. The ISME Journal, 10 . pp. 2844-2853. doi:10.1038/ismej.2016.80 ISSN 1751-7362.
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2016.80
Abstract
Syntrophies are metabolic cooperations, whereby two organisms co-metabolize a substrate in an interdependent manner. Many of the observed natural syntrophic interactions are mandatory in the absence of strong electron acceptors, such that one species in the syntrophy has to assume the role of electron sink for the other. While this presents an ecological setting for syntrophy to be beneficial, the potential genetic drivers of syntrophy remain unknown to date. Here, we show that the syntrophic sulfate-reducing species Desulfovibrio vulgaris displays a stable genetic polymorphism, where only a specific genotype is able to engage in syntrophy with the hydrogenotrophic methanogen Methanococcus maripaludis. This 'syntrophic' genotype is characterized by two genetic alterations, one of which is an in-frame deletion in the gene encoding for the ion-translocating subunit cooK of the membrane-bound COO hydrogenase. We show that this genotype presents a specific physiology, in which reshaping of energy conservation in the lactate oxidation pathway enables it to produce sufficient intermediate hydrogen for sustained M. maripaludis growth and thus, syntrophy. To our knowledge, these findings provide for the first time a genetic basis for syntrophy in nature and bring us closer to the rational engineering of syntrophy in synthetic microbial communities.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||||
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Subjects: | Q Science > QR Microbiology | ||||||||||
Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Life Sciences (2010- ) | ||||||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Desulfovibrio vulgaris -- Genetics, Genetic polymorphisms, Electrophiles | ||||||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | The ISME Journal | ||||||||||
Publisher: | Nature Publishing Group | ||||||||||
ISSN: | 1751-7362 | ||||||||||
Official Date: | December 2016 | ||||||||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | 10 | ||||||||||
Page Range: | pp. 2844-2853 | ||||||||||
DOI: | 10.1038/ismej.2016.80 | ||||||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Open Access (Creative Commons) | ||||||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 8 June 2016 | ||||||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 8 June 2016 | ||||||||||
Funder: | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (Great Britain) (BBSRC) | ||||||||||
Grant number: | BB/K003240/2 |
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