This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Lowe, S E Articles by Zeikus, J G Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Lowe, S E Articles by Zeikus, J G

Biology, ecology, and biotechnological applications of anaerobic bacteria adapted to environmental stresses in temperature, pH, salinity, or substrates.

Department of Biochemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing 48824.

SUMMARY

Anaerobic bacteria include diverse species that can grow at environmental extremes of temperature, pH, salinity, substrate toxicity, or available free energy. The first evolved archaebacterial and eubacterial species appear to have been anaerobes adapted to high temperatures. Thermoanaerobes and their stable enzymes have served as model systems for basic and applied studies of microbial cellulose and starch degradation, methanogenesis, ethanologenesis, acetogenesis, autotrophic CO2 fixation, saccharidases, hydrogenases, and alcohol dehydrogenases. Anaerobes, unlike aerobes, appear to have evolved more energy-conserving mechanisms for physiological adaptation to environmental stresses such as novel enzyme activities and stabilities and novel membrane lipid compositions and functions. Anaerobic syntrophs do not have similar aerobic bacterial counterparts. The metabolic end products of syntrophs are potent thermodynamic inhibitors of energy conservation mechanisms, and they require coordinated consumption by a second partner organism for species growth. Anaerobes adapted to environmental stresses and their enzymes have biotechnological applications in organic waste treatment systems and chemical and fuel production systems based on biomass-derived substrates or syngas. These kinds of anaerobes have only recently been examined by biologists, and considerably more study is required before they are fully appreciated by science and technology.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• MCINERNEY, M. J., STRUCHTEMEYER, C. G., SIEBER, J., MOUTTAKI, H., STAMS, A. J. M., SCHINK, B., ROHLIN, L., GUNSALUS, R. P. (2008). Physiology, Ecology, Phylogeny, and Genomics of Microorganisms Capable of Syntrophic Metabolism. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1125: 58-72 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Bonch-Osmolovskaya, E. A., Miroshnichenko, M. L., Lebedinsky, A. V., Chernyh, N. A., Nazina, T. N., Ivoilov, V. S., Belyaev, S. S., Boulygina, E. S., Lysov, Y. P., Perov, A. N., Mirzabekov, A. D., Hippe, H., Stackebrandt, E., L'Haridon, S., Jeanthon, C. (2003). Radioisotopic, Culture-Based, and Oligonucleotide Microchip Analyses of Thermophilic Microbial Communities in a Continental High-Temperature Petroleum Reservoir. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69: 6143-6151 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Burdette, D. S., Jung, S.-H., Shen, G.-J., Hollingsworth, R. I., Zeikus, J. G. (2002). Physiological Function of Alcohol Dehydrogenases and Long-Chain (C30) Fatty Acids in Alcohol Tolerance of Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 68: 1914-1918 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Vieille, C., Zeikus, G. J. (2001). Hyperthermophilic Enzymes: Sources, Uses, and Molecular Mechanisms for Thermostability. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 65: 1-43 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Mai, V., Wiegel, J. (2000). Advances in Development of a Genetic System for Thermoanaerobacterium spp.: Expression of Genes Encoding Hydrolytic Enzymes, Development of a Second Shuttle Vector, and Integration of Genes into the Chromosome. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 66: 4817-4821 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Oren, A. (1999). Bioenergetic Aspects of Halophilism. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 63: 334-348 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Purcarea, C., Evans, D. R., Herve, G. (1999). Channeling of Carbamoyl Phosphate to the Pyrimidine and Arginine Biosynthetic Pathways in the Deep Sea Hyperthermophilic Archaeon Pyrococcus abyssi. J. Biol. Chem. 274: 6122-6129 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Ventosa, A., Nieto, J. J., Oren, A. (1998). Biology of Moderately Halophilic Aerobic Bacteria. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 62: 504-544 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Kozyavkin, S. A., Pushkin, A. V., Eiserling, F. A., Stetter, K. O., Lake, J. A., Slesarev, A. I. (1995). DNA Enzymology above 100 °C. J. Biol. Chem. 270: 13593-13595 [Abstract] [Full Text]