Anaerobic oxidation of long-chain n-alkanes by the hyperthermophilic sulfate-reducing archaeon, Archaeoglobus fulgidus.

ABSTRACT: The thermophilic sulfate-reducing archaeon Archaeoglobus fulgidus strain VC-16 (DSM 4304), which is known to oxidize fatty acids and n-alkenes, was shown to oxidize saturated hydrocarbons (n-alkanes in the range C10-C21) with thiosulfate or sulfate as a terminal electron acceptor. The amount of n-hexadecane degradation observed was in stoichiometric agreement with the theoretically expected amount of thiosulfate reduction. One of the pathways used by anaerobic microorganisms to activate alkanes is addition to fumarate that involves alkylsuccinate synthase as a key enzyme. A search for genes encoding homologous enzymes in A. fulgidus identified the pflD gene (locus-tag AF1449) that was previously annotated as a pyruvate formate lyase. A phylogenetic analysis revealed that this gene is of ba

SUBMITTER: Khelifi N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4992073 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature