An extracellular [NiFe] hydrogenase mediating iron corrosion is encoded in a genetically unstable genomic island in Methanococcus maripaludis.

ABSTRACT: Certain methanogens deteriorate steel surfaces through a process called microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC). However, the mechanisms of MIC, whereby methanogens oxidize zerovalent iron (Fe⁰), are largely unknown. In this study, Fe⁰-corroding Methanococcus maripaludis strain OS7 and its derivative (strain OS7mut1) defective in Fe⁰-corroding activity were isolated. Genomic analysis of these strains demonstrated that the strain OS7mut1 contained a 12-kb chromosomal deletion. The deleted region, termed "MIC island", encoded the genes for the large and small subunits of a [NiFe] hydrogenase, the TatA/TatC genes necessary for the secretion of the [NiFe] hydrogenase, and a gene for the hydrogenase maturation protease. Thus, the [NiFe] hydrogenase may be s

SUBMITTER: Tsurumaru H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6181927 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature