Metabolic reconstruction of sulfur assimilation in the extremophile Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans based on genome analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans is a gamma-proteobacterium that lives at pH2 and obtains energy by the oxidation of sulfur and iron. It is used in the biomining industry for the recovery of metals and is one of the causative agents of acid mine drainage. Effective tools for the study of its genetics and physiology are not in widespread use and, despite considerable effort, an understanding of its unusual physiology remains at a rudimentary level. Nearly complete genome sequences of A. ferrooxidans are available from two public sources and we have exploited this information to reconstruct aspects of its sulfur metabolism.

Results

Two candidate mechanisms for sulfate uptake from the environment were detected but both belong to large paralogous families of membrane tr

SUBMITTER: Valdes J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC324559 | biostudies-literature | 2003 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature