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Comammox - Complete nitrification by Nitrospira bacteria

ABSTRACT: Nitrification, the oxidation of ammonia via nitrite to nitrate, has always been considered to be a two-step process catalysed by chemolithoautotrophic microorganisms oxidizing either ammonia or nitrite. No known nitrifier carries out both steps, although complete nitrification should be energetically advantageous. This functional separation has puzzled microbiologists for a century. Here we report on the discovery and cultivation of a completely nitrifying bacterium from the genus Nitrospira, a globally distributed group of nitrite oxidizers. The genome of this chemolithoautotrophic organism encodes the pathways both for ammonia and nitrite oxidation, which are concomitantly activated during growth by ammonia oxidation to nitrate. Genes affiliated with the phylogenetically distinct ammonia monooxygenase and hydroxylamine dehydrogenase genes of Nitrospira are present in many environments and were retrieved on Nitrospira contigs in new metagenomes from engineered systems. These findings fundamentally change our picture of nitrification and point to completely nitrifying Nitrospira as key components of nitrogen-cycling microbial communities.

OTHER RELATED OMICS DATASETS IN: PRJEB10818PRJEB10139

INSTRUMENT(S): LTQ Orbitrap Elite

ORGANISM(S): Candidatus Nitrospira Inopinata

SUBMITTER: Nico Jehmlich

LAB HEAD: Nico Jehmlich

PROVIDER: PXD013103 | Pride | 2019-03-15

REPOSITORIES: Pride

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Complete nitrification by Nitrospira bacteria.

Daims Holger H Lebedeva Elena V EV Pjevac Petra P Han Ping P Herbold Craig C Albertsen Mads M Jehmlich Nico N Palatinszky Marton M Vierheilig Julia J Bulaev Alexandr A Kirkegaard Rasmus H RH von Bergen Martin M Rattei Thomas T Bendinger Bernd B Nielsen Per H PH Wagner Michael M

Nature 20151126 7583

Nitrification, the oxidation of ammonia via nitrite to nitrate, has always been considered to be a two-step process catalysed by chemolithoautotrophic microorganisms oxidizing either ammonia or nitrite. No known nitrifier carries out both steps, although complete nitrification should be energetically advantageous. This functional separation has puzzled microbiologists for a century. Here we report on the discovery and cultivation of a completely nitrifying bacterium from the genus Nitrospira, a ...[more]

PMID: 26610024

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Project description:Nitrite-oxidizing bacteria are vital players in the global nitrogen cycle that convert nitrite to nitrate during the 2nd step of nitrification. Within this functional guild, the genus Nitrospira is among the most widespread and phylogenetically and physiologically diverse nitrite oxidizers and its members drive nitrite oxidation in many natural and biotechnological ecosystems. Despite their ecological and biotechnological importance, our understanding of Nitrospira’s energy metabolism is still limited. The main bottleneck for a detailed biochemical characterization of Nitrospira is biomass production, since they are slow-growing organisms and fastidious to culture. In this study, we cultured Nitrospira moscoviensis in a continuous stirred tank reactor system (CSTR) allowing constant biomass harvesting. Additionally, this cultivation setup enabled accurate control of physicochemical parameters and thus avoided fluctuating levels of nitrite and accumulation of nitrate. We performed transcriptome analysis and confirmed constant gene expression profiles in the chemostat culture over a period of two weeks. The transcriptomic data supports the predicted core metabolism of N. moscoviensis, including the reductive TCA cycle as a CO2 fixation pathway, the novel bd-like oxidase as terminal oxidase and the octaheme nitrite reductase involved in nitrogen assimilation. Additionally, the expression of multiple copies of respiratory complexes suggests functional differentiation of these copies within the respiratory chain. Transcriptome analysis also suggests a soluble and a membrane-bound gamma subunit as part of the nitrite oxidoreductase (NXR), the enzyme catalyzing nitrite oxidation. Overall, the transcriptome data provided novel insights into the metabolism of Nitrospira supporting the genome-based prediction of key pathways. Moreover, the application of a CSTR to cultivate Nitrospira is an important foundation for future proteomic and biochemical characterizations, which are crucial for a better understanding of canonical and complete nitrifying microorganisms.

Project description:Investigation of the whole genome gene expression level changes relative to exponential phase growth in Nitrosomonas europaea ATCC19718 after 12 hours ammonia starvation, 144 hours ammonia starvation, and 20 minutes following ammonia addition to starved cells. The ammonia monooxygenase of chemolithotrophic ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) catalyzes the first step in ammonia oxidation by converting ammonia to hydroxylamine. The monooxygenase of Nitrosomonas europaea is encoded by two nearly identical operon copies (amoCAB1,2). Several AOB, including N. europaea, also posess a divergent monocistronic copy of amoC (amoC3) of unknown function. Previous work suggested a possible functional role for amoC3 in N. europaea during recovery from extended ammonia starvation as part of the σE- stress response regulon during the recovery of N. europaea from extended ammonia starvation, thus indicating its importance during the exit of cells from starvation. We here used global transcription analysis to show that expression of amoC3 is part of a general post-starvation cellular response system in N. europaea. We also found that amoC3 is required for efficient exit from prolonged ammonia starvation, as deleting this gene impaired growth at elevated temperatures and recovery following starvation under high oxygen tensions. Deletion of the σ32 global stress response regulator demonstrated that the heat shock regulon also plays a significant role in mediating the recovery of N. europaea from starvation. These findings provide the first described phenotype associated with the divergent AmoC3 subunit which appears to function as a stress responsive subunit capable of maintaining ammonia oxidation activity under stress conditions. A twelve chip study using total RNA recovered from four timepoints for each of three biological replicates of wild-type cultures of Nitrosomonas europaea ATCC 19718. Total RNA was obtained from each biological culture replicate during exponential growth, following 12 hours ammonia starvation, 144 hours ammonia starvations, and 20 minutes following ammonia addition to starved cells.

Project description:Beller, H. R., T. E. Letain, A. Chakicherla, S. R. Kane, T. C. Legler, and M. A. Coleman. 2006. Whole-genome transcriptional analysis of chemolithoautotrophic thiosulfate oxidation by Thiobacillus denitrificans under aerobic vs. denitrifying conditions. Journal of Bacteriology 188:7005-7015. Thiobacillus denitrificans is one of the few known obligate chemolithoautotrophic bacteria capable of energetically coupling thiosulfate oxidation to denitrification as well as aerobic respiration. As very little is known about the differential expression of genes associated with key chemolithoautotrophic functions (such as sulfur-compound oxidation and CO2 fixation) under aerobic versus denitrifying conditions, we conducted whole-genome, cDNA microarray studies to explore this topic systematically. The microarrays identified 277 genes (approximately ten percent of the genome) as differentially expressed using Robust Multi-array Average statistical analysis and a 2-fold cutoff. Genes upregulated (ca. 6- to 150-fold) under aerobic conditions included a cluster of genes associated with iron acquisition (e.g., siderophore-related genes), a cluster of cytochrome cbb3 oxidase genes, cbbL and cbbS (encoding the large and small subunits of form I ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase, or RubisCO), and multiple molecular chaperone genes. Genes upregulated (ca. 4- to 95-fold) under denitrifying conditions included nar, nir, and nor genes (associated respectively with nitrate reductase, nitrite reductase, and nitric oxide reductase, which catalyze successive steps of denitrification), cbbM (encoding form II RubisCO), and genes involved with sulfur-compound oxidation (including two physically separated but highly similar copies of sulfide:quinone oxidoreductase and of dsrC, associated with dissimilatory sulfite reductase). Among genes associated with denitrification, relative expression levels (i.e., degree of upregulation with nitrate) tended to decrease in the order nar > nir > nor > nos. Reverse transcription, quantitative PCR analysis was used to validate these trends. Keywords: bacterial metabolism

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Comammox - Complete nitrification by Nitrospira bacteria

Publications

Complete nitrification by Nitrospira bacteria.

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