Investigations on isolation, physiology, and morphology of Gallionella ferruginea Ehrenberg

Hanert, Hans H.

doi:10.1007/bf00408555

Cited by 30 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The structure, composition, and function of the stalk have been subjects for discussions by microbiologists throughout the twentieth century. The stalk has been suggested to be a living part of the organism [2,3,15,24] or an extracellular nonliving material excreted by the cell [5,25]. Today, it is generally accepted that the stalk is an extracellular structure, supported by the fact that the cells are stained by the nucleic acid-specific acridine orange stain, but the stalks are not [9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Benefits associated with the stalk of Gallionella ferruginea, evaluated by comparison of a stalk-forming and a non-stalk-forming strain and biofilm studies in situ

Hallbeck

Pedersen

1995

Microb Ecol

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Factors that regulate and induce stalk formation by the iron-oxidizing and stalk-forming bacterium Gallionella ferruginea were studied in laboratory cultures and in situ. A stalk-forming strain, Sta(+), and a non-stalk-forming strain, Sta(-), were used for comparative studies of the benefits associated with the stalk. Two different growth media were used: a ferrous sulfide medium (FS-medium), with slow oxidation of iron giving high concentrations of toxic oxygen radicals and a ferrous carbonate medium (FC-medium), with fast iron oxidation giving low concentration of the toxic oxygen radicals. It was found that Sta(+) cells grown in the FS-medium survived 3 weeks longer than Sta(-) cells grown in the FS-medium. When each strain was grown in the FC-medium, the Sta(-) cells had an advantage and survived 8 weeks longer than the Sta(+) cells. No difference in survival was found for Sta(+) cells grown in FS-medium compared to growth in FC-medium. In laboratory cultures, the average stalk length per cell values were 7-2.5 times higher (92 h and 150-300 h growth, respectively) in a medium with 620 μM iron than in a medium with 290 μM iron. Gallionella ferruginea Sta(+) outcompeted Sta(-) cells when inoculated as mixed populations in FC-medium. It has previously been suggested that stalk formation in vitro is induced by oxygen. To confirm this observation, biofilm development in natural waters was studied in two wells, one with trace amounts of oxygen (LH) and one without (TH). A dense biofilm developed on surfaces exposed to flowing well LH water, but no biofilm developed in well TH. Stalks were formed in water samples from both wells when allowed to make contact with air. This work demonstrates for the first time that the stalk has a protecting function against the toxic oxygen radicals formed during the chemical iron oxidation. It also shows that it is the oxidation rate of the ferrous iron and not its concentration that is harmful to the cells. The stalk gives G. ferruginea a unique possibility to colonize and survive in habitats with high contents of iron, inaccessible for bacteria without a defense system against the oxidation of iron.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Benefits associated with the stalk of Gallionella ferruginea, evaluated by comparison of a stalk-forming and a non-stalk-forming strain and biofilm studies in situ

Hallbeck

Pedersen

1995

Microb Ecol

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“…A recent study concentrated on the ultrastructure of G. ferruginea (Lutters & Hanert, 1989), but most investigations, and also experiments done in vitro, have focused on the stalks (e.g. Balashova, 1967;Hanert, 1967;1973;Mardanyan & Balashova, 1971 ;Vatter & Wolfe, 1957). Studies that concentrate on the stalk-forming cells might overlook other phases in the growth cycle.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Culture parameters regulating stalk formation and growth rate of Gallionella ferruginea

Hallbeck

Pedersen

1990

Journal of General Microbiology

109

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“…Both bacterial groups belong to the Betaproteobacteria and, therefore, represent the first acidophilic iron oxidizers within this phylogenetic class (Hallberg et al, 2006; Mosler et al, 2013; Johnson et al, 2014; Ullrich et al, 2016a,b). At that time, the genus Gallionella was only known to comprise iron oxidizing strains that occur in circumneutral and microaerobic environments rich in ferrous iron (e.g., Hanert, 1968). In contrast to this, much less was known of the genus “ Ferrovum ” which was newly proposed to accommodate streamer forming acidophilic iron oxidizing strains with an autotrophic life style (e.g., Hallberg et al, 2006; Johnson et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconstruction of the Metabolic Potential of Acidophilic Sideroxydans Strains from the Metagenome of an Microaerophilic Enrichment Culture of Acidophilic Iron-Oxidizing Bacteria from a Pilot Plant for the Treatment of Acid Mine Drainage Reveals Metabolic Versatility and Adaptation to Life at Low pH

et al. 2016

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Bacterial community analyses of samples from a pilot plant for the treatment of acid mine drainage (AMD) from the lignite-mining district in Lusatia (East Germany) had previously demonstrated the dominance of two groups of acidophilic iron oxidizers: the novel candidate genus “Ferrovum” and a group comprising Gallionella-like strains. Since pure culture had proven difficult, previous studies have used genome analyses of co-cultures consisting of “Ferrovum” and a strain of the heterotrophic acidophile Acidiphilium in order to obtain insight into the life style of these novel bacteria. Here we report on attempts to undertake a similar study on Gallionella-like acidophiles from AMD. Isolates belonging to the family Gallionellaceae are still restricted to the microaerophilic and neutrophilic iron oxidizers Sideroxydans and Gallionella. Availability of genomic or metagenomic sequence data of acidophilic strains of these genera should, therefore, be relevant for defining adaptive strategies in pH homeostasis. This is particularly the case since complete genome sequences of the neutrophilic strains G. capsiferriformans ES-2 and S. lithotrophicus ES-1 permit the direct comparison of the metabolic capacity of neutrophilic and acidophilic members of the same genus and, thus, the detection of biochemical features that are specific to acidophilic strains to support life under acidic conditions. Isolation attempts undertaken in this study resulted in the microaerophilic enrichment culture ADE-12-1 which, based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, consisted of at least three to four distinct Gallionellaceae strains that appear to be closely related to the neutrophilic iron oxidizer S. lithotrophicus ES-1. Key hypotheses inferred from the metabolic reconstruction of the metagenomic sequence data of these acidophilic Sideroxydans strains include the putative role of urea hydrolysis, formate oxidation and cyanophycin decarboxylation in pH homeostasis.

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Investigations on isolation, physiology, and morphology of Gallionella ferruginea Ehrenberg

Cited by 30 publications

References 11 publications

Benefits associated with the stalk of Gallionella ferruginea, evaluated by comparison of a stalk-forming and a non-stalk-forming strain and biofilm studies in situ

Benefits associated with the stalk of Gallionella ferruginea, evaluated by comparison of a stalk-forming and a non-stalk-forming strain and biofilm studies in situ

Culture parameters regulating stalk formation and growth rate of Gallionella ferruginea

Reconstruction of the Metabolic Potential of Acidophilic Sideroxydans Strains from the Metagenome of an Microaerophilic Enrichment Culture of Acidophilic Iron-Oxidizing Bacteria from a Pilot Plant for the Treatment of Acid Mine Drainage Reveals Metabolic Versatility and Adaptation to Life at Low pH

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