Transformation of sulfur compounds by an abundant lineage of marine bacteria in the alpha-subclass of the class Proteobacteria.

ABSTRACT: Members of a group of marine bacteria that is numerically important in coastal seawater and sediments were characterized with respect to their ability to transform organic and inorganic sulfur compounds. Fifteen strains representing the Roseobacter group (a phylogenetic cluster of marine bacteria in the alpha-subclass of the class Proteobacteria) were isolated from seawater, primarily from the southeastern United States. Although more than one-half of the isolates were obtained without any selection for sulfur metabolism, all of the isolates were able to degrade the sulfur-containing osmolyte dimethyl sulfoniopropionate (DMSP) with production of dimethyl sulfide (DMS). Five isolates also degraded DMSP with production of methanethiol, indicating that both cleavage and demethylation pathways

SUBMITTER: Gonzalez JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC99705 | biostudies-literature | 1999 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature