Reporting Key Features in Cold-Adapted Bacteria

Abstract

It is well known that cold environments are predominant over the Earth and there are a great number of reports analyzing bacterial adaptations to cold. Most of these works are focused on characteristics traditionally involved in cold adaptation, such as the structural adjustment of enzymes, maintenance of membrane fluidity, expression of cold shock proteins and presence of compatible solutes. Recent works based mainly on novel “omic” technologies have presented evidence of the presence of other important features to thrive in cold. In this work, we analyze cold-adapted bacteria, looking for strategies involving novel features, and/or activation of non-classical metabolisms for a cold lifestyle. Metabolic traits related to energy generation, compounds and mechanisms involved in stress resistance and cold adaptation, as well as characteristics of the cell envelope, are analyzed in heterotrophic cold-adapted bacteria. In addition, metagenomic, metatranscriptomic and metaproteomic data are used to detect key functions in bacterial communities inhabiting cold environments.

Model metabolic strategy for heterotrophic bacteria in the cold ocean based on Colwellia psychrerythraea 34H

“…Recent reviews (45,46) of cold-adapted bacteria, covering comparative transcriptomic and proteomic studies across a range of temperatures, further support the EMP pathway as unfavorable in cold marine environments. For many of the species examined, the EMP pathway was down-regulated at temperatures <10°C, while alternative carbon pathways (such as the glyoxylate and methyglyoxal pathways) were activated (45).…”

“…Recent reviews (45,46) of cold-adapted bacteria, covering comparative transcriptomic and proteomic studies across a range of temperatures, further support the EMP pathway as unfavorable in cold marine environments. For many of the species examined, the EMP pathway was down-regulated at temperatures <10°C, while alternative carbon pathways (such as the glyoxylate and methyglyoxal pathways) were activated (45). Although the cold-adapted terrestrial bacterium Planococcus halocryophilus (isolated from Arctic permafrost) does encode an ED pathway gene (2-dehydro-3deoxyphosphogluconate aldolase, BBI08_12080), the full function of its ED pathway has not been studied; the ED pathway may represent a distinctive metabolic feature for the survival and successful competition of psychrophilic bacteria in the cold marine environment.…”

Quantitative Analysis of Cold Stress Inducing Lipidomic Changes in Shewanella putrefaciens Using UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS

“…This "fishy" aroma could generalize associations with fish spoilage and have significant adverse effects on the marine fish consumption. S. putrefaciens is a cold-adapted microorganism in refrigerated marine fish, and cold-adapted microorganisms exhibit many unique characteristics and molecular mechanisms that allow them to adapt to the environment [33,34]. Low temperature presents many challenges for cold-adapted microorganisms to grow at low temperature, including the increased liquid water viscosity, decreased enzyme activity, reduced lipid membranes' fluidity, enhanced the stability of inhibiting nucleic acid structure, and disturbed protein conformation [35][36][37][38].…”

Microbial Ecology from the Himalayan Cryosphere Perspective

“…Not only the biotechnological benefits but also the inhabiting cold loving microorganisms contribute to several ecological processes in different ecosystems located in Himalaya (Figure 3). In the environmental importance, biodegradation and agriculture (such as plant growth promoting activities and biocontrol) under the colder regions are well supported by the inhabiting microbes [99,100]. These microorganisms have the capability to degrade a range of compounds that have been identified as strong agents in bioremediation.…”