Organohalide respiration by a Desulforhopalus-dominated community.

ABSTRACT: Marine sediments harbor diverse organohalide-respiring bacteria (OHRB), but their functional roles and metabolic interactions remains poorly understood. To investigate these interactions, we obtained and characterized a debrominating consortium from Aarhus Bay marine sediments. The consortium transformed 2,6-dibromophenol (2,6-DBP) to phenol under sulfate-reducing conditions, with bacterial growth demonstrating respiratory energy conservation. Metagenomic analysis and binning revealed five new species-level populations (>85% complete, <3% contaminated) dominated by Desulforhopalus (bin.5). Critically, bin.5 encodes a thiolytic tetrachloro-p-hydroquinone reductive dehalogenase (RDase), previously characterized only in aerobic bacteria, representing evidence of this enzyme functioning in a s

SUBMITTER: Zhang C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12908670 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature