Interactions in a mixed bacterial population growing on methane in continuous culture

Wilkinson, T. G.; Topiwala, H. H.; Hamer, G.

doi:10.1002/bit.260160105

Cited by 143 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 12 publications

(2 reference statements)

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“…Positive cell-cell interactions involving methylotrophic bacteria have been reported previously for aerobic species. For example, Wilkinson et al ( 1974) demonstrated that growth of aerobic mixed cultures on methane was enhanced as the result of removal of toxic methanol by a Hyphomicrobium species which was produced by a methane-oxidizing Pseudomonas species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbial Ecology of Pectin Decomposition in Anoxic Lake Sediments

Schink

Zeikus

1982

Microbiology

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Anaerobic digestion of pectin by bacteria was examined in two freshwater lakes in Wisconsin and in defined laboratory cultures of species prevalent in the lake sediment. The turnover times for pectin biodegradation to methane in sediments incubated at in situ temperature were much longer (100 h in Lake Mendota and 185 h in Knaack Lake) than either that observed for glucose (12 h in Lake Mendota) or previously reported for acetate (0.22 h in Lake Mendota). The numbers of pectinolytic anaerobes varied seasonally in both sediments (102-105 and 103-105 ml-' in Knaack Lake and Lake Mendota, respectively), and were highest during the fall after sedimentation of algal blooms and/or leaf detritus. Clostridium butyricum was identified as a prevalent pectinolytic anaerobe in both lakes. In mono-culture pectin fermentations, C. butyricum produced methanol, H2/C02, acetate, ethanol and butyrate; growth stopped in the presence of excess energy source when the pH fell to 4.3. In co-culture pectin fermentations of C. butyricumlMethanosarcina barkeri, H,/CO,, methanol and acetate were detected as intermediary metabolites, and pectin was completely degraded to CH, and CO,, the pH remaining neutral. 14C-radiotracer analysis substantiated the simultaneous conversion of H,/CO,, methanol and acetate to CH, by M. barkeri as these metabolites were generated from pectin hydrolysis by C. butyricum.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbial Ecology of Pectin Decomposition in Anoxic Lake Sediments

Schink

Zeikus

1982

Microbiology

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“…Methanotrophic bacteria are often contaminated with methanol-oxidizing Hyphomicrobium sp. strains which profit from some excreted methanol and help protect the methanotroph by decreasing possibly toxic methanol concentrations (Wilkinson et al 1974). Perhaps also formaldehyde is removed this way which is far more toxic than methanol.…”

Section: Types Of Cooperation Among Microorganismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Untitled

Schink

2002

Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek

254

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After several decades of microbiological research has focused on pure cultures, synergistic effects between different types of microorganisms find increasing interest. Interspecies interactions between prokaryotic cells have been studied into depth mainly with respect to syntrophic cooperations involved in methanogenic degradation of electron-rich substrates such as fatty acids, alcohols, and aromatics. Partners involved in these processes have to run their metabolism at minimal energy increments, with only fractions of an ATP unit synthesized per substrate molecule metabolized, and their cooperation is intensified by close proximity of the partner cells. New examples of such syntrophic activities are anaerobic methane oxidation by presumably methanogenic and sulfate-reducing prokaryotes, and microbially mediated pyrite formation. Syntrophic relationships have also been discovered to be involved in the anaerobic metabolization of amino acids and sugars where energetical restrictions do not necessarily force the partner organisms into strict interdependencies. The most highly developed cooperative systems among prokaryotic cells appear to be the structurally organized phototrophic consortia of the Chlorochromatium and Pelochromatium type in which phototrophic and chemotrophic bacteria not only exchange metabolites but also interact at the level of growth coordination and tactic behaviour.

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“…In this way, they create opportunity for new ecological interactions to emerge (Phelan et al, 2012). The spectrum of interactions that results from this process includesbesides the competition for limiting resources (Foster and Bell, 2012) or the release of toxic (waste) products (Wilkinson et al, 1974)-also interactions, in which one organism benefits from the biochemical activities of another one. For example, a metabolic by-product that is released by one genotype can benefit a recipient strain that utilises this resource (Rosenzweig et al, 1994;Doebeli, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fitness and stability of obligate cross-feeding interactions that emerge upon gene loss in bacteria

et al. 2013

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Cross-feeding interactions, in which bacterial cells exchange costly metabolites to the benefit of both interacting partners, are very common in the microbial world. However, it generally remains unclear what maintains this type of interaction in the presence of non-cooperating types. We investigate this problem using synthetic cross-feeding interactions: by simply deleting two metabolic genes from the genome of Escherichia coli, we generated genotypes that require amino acids to grow and release other amino acids into the environment. Surprisingly, in a vast majority of cases, cocultures of two cross-feeding strains showed an increased Darwinian fitness (that is, rate of growth) relative to prototrophic wild type cells-even in direct competition. This unexpected growth advantage was due to a division of metabolic labour: the fitness cost of overproducing amino acids was less than the benefit of not having to produce others when they were provided by their partner. Moreover, frequency-dependent selection maintained cross-feeding consortia and limited exploitation by non-cooperating competitors. Together, our synthetic study approach reveals ecological principles that can help explain the widespread occurrence of obligate metabolic cross-feeding interactions in nature.

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Interactions in a mixed bacterial population growing on methane in continuous culture

Cited by 143 publications

References 12 publications

Microbial Ecology of Pectin Decomposition in Anoxic Lake Sediments

Microbial Ecology of Pectin Decomposition in Anoxic Lake Sediments

Untitled

Fitness and stability of obligate cross-feeding interactions that emerge upon gene loss in bacteria

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