This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Olsson, K.
Right arrow Articles by Cook, G. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Olsson, K.
Right arrow Articles by Cook, G. M.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, January 2003, p. 461-465, Vol. 185, No. 2
0021-9193/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.185.2.461-465.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Bioenergetic Properties of the Thermoalkaliphilic Bacillus sp. Strain TA2.A1

Karen Olsson,1 Stefanie Keis,1 Hugh W. Morgan,2 Peter Dimroth,3 and Gregory M. Cook1*

Department of Microbiology, Otago School of Medical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand,1 Thermophile and Microbial Biochemistry and Biotechnology Unit, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand,2 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Institut für Mikrobiologie, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland3

Received 25 July 2002/ Accepted 23 October 2002

The thermoalkaliphilic Bacillus sp. strain TA2.A1 was able to grow in pH-controlled batch culture containing a nonfermentable growth substrate from pH 7.5 to 10.0 with no significant change in its specific growth rate, demonstrating that this bacterium is a facultative alkaliphile. Growth at pH 10.0 was sensitive to the protonophore carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone, suggesting that a proton motive force ({Delta}p) generated via aerobic respiration was an obligate requirement for growth of strain TA2.A1. Strain TA2.A1 exhibited intracellular pH homeostasis as the external pH increased from 7.5 to 10.0; however, the maximum {Delta}pH generated over this pH range was only 1.1 units at an external pH of 9.5. The membrane potential ({Delta}{psi}) was maintained between -114 mV and -150 mV, and little significant change was observed over the pH range for growth. In contrast, the {Delta}p declined from -164 mV at pH 7.5 to approximately -78 mV at pH 10.0. An inwardly directed sodium motive force ({Delta}pNa+) of -100 mV at pH 10.0 indicated that cellular processes (i.e., solute transport) dependent on a sodium gradient would not be affected by the adverse {Delta}p. The phosphorylation potential of strain TA2.A1 was maintained between -300 mV and -418 mV, and the calculated H+/ATP stoichiometry of the ATP synthase increased from 2.0 at pH 7.5 to 5.7 at pH 10.0. Based on these data, vigorous growth of strain TA2.A1 correlated well with the {Delta}pNa+, phosphorylation potential, and the ATP/ADP ratio, but not with {Delta}p. This communication represents the first report on the bioenergetics of an extremely thermoalkaliphilic aerobic bacterium.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology, Otago School of Medical Sciences, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand. Phone: 64 3 479 7722. Fax: 64 3 479 8540. E-mail: greg.cook{at}stonebow.otago.ac.nz.

Journal of Bacteriology, January 2003, p. 461-465, Vol. 185, No. 2
0021-9193/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.185.2.461-465.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Liu, J., Fujisawa, M., Hicks, D. B., Krulwich, T. A. (2009). Characterization of the Functionally Critical AXAXAXA and PXXEXXP Motifs of the ATP Synthase c-Subunit from an Alkaliphilic Bacillus. J. Biol. Chem. 284: 8714-8725 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • McMillan, D. G. G., Keis, S., Dimroth, P., Cook, G. M. (2007). A Specific Adaptation in the a Subunit of Thermoalkaliphilic F1FO-ATP Synthase Enables ATP Synthesis at High pH but Not at Neutral pH Values. J. Biol. Chem. 282: 17395-17404 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Branden, M., Sanden, T., Brzezinski, P., Widengren, J. (2006). Localized proton microcircuits at the biological membrane-water interface. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 103: 19766-19770 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Keis, S., Stocker, A., Dimroth, P., Cook, G. M. (2006). Inhibition of ATP Hydrolysis by Thermoalkaliphilic F1Fo-ATP Synthase Is Controlled by the C Terminus of the {varepsilon} Subunit. J. Bacteriol. 188: 3796-3804 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Wang, Z., Hicks, D. B., Guffanti, A. A., Baldwin, K., Krulwich, T. A. (2004). Replacement of Amino Acid Sequence Features of a- and c-Subunits of ATP Synthases of Alkaliphilic Bacillus with the Bacillus Consensus Sequence Results in Defective Oxidative Phosphorylation and Non-fermentative Growth at pH 10.5. J. Biol. Chem. 279: 26546-26554 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Cook, G. M., Keis, S., Morgan, H. W., von Ballmoos, C., Matthey, U., Kaim, G., Dimroth, P. (2003). Purification and Biochemical Characterization of the F1Fo-ATP Synthase from Thermoalkaliphilic Bacillus sp. Strain TA2.A1. J. Bacteriol. 185: 4442-4449 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»