Metabolic and molecular responses to interspecies hydrogen transfer between Ruminococcus albus and Wolinella succinogenes
type: CreativeWork
description: The mutually beneficial interdependence of hydrogen-producing and hydrogen-utilizing bacteria was discovered by M. P. Bryant, M. J. Wolin and R. S. Wolfe at the University of Illinois in 1967. Based on thermodynamic principles, interspecies hydrogen transfer is a central process in anaerobic environments linking transfer of reducing power from fermentation of organic molecules to inorganic electron acceptors via hydrogen. Interspecies hydrogen transfer is the most significant example of unidirectional substrate supply enabling the syntrophic metabolic association between interacting microbial species and plays a significant role in the global methane cycle. Ruminococcus albus 7 is a hydrogen-producing, fermentative bacterium with two known hydrogen-producing hydrogenase complexes, HydABC and HydA2, as well as a putative hydrogen-sensing protein, HydS. HydABC is the only chromosomal hydrogenase, while HydA2 and HydS form a transcriptional unit on its plasmid pRumal01. The electron-bifurcating ferredoxin- and NAD-dependent [FeFe]-hydrogenase, HydABC, couples proton reduction using nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) to proton reduction using reduced ferredoxin (Fdred), producing molecular hydrogen: 3 H+ + NADH + Fdred → 2 H2 + NAD+ + Fdox. HydA2, a ferredoxin-dependent [FeFe]-hydrogenase, reduces protons to molecular hydrogen using only reduced ferredoxin: 2 H+ + Fdred → H2 + Fdox. HydS contains a PAS domain, which often are present on sensory proteins. In addition, HydS contains a putative redox-sensing [4Fe:4S] cluster. We hypothesized HydS transcriptionally regulates HydA2 in a manner dependent on the presence of a hydrogen-utilizing syntroph. To test this hypothesis, R. albus 7 and a hydrogen-utilizing bacterium, Wolinella succinogenes DSM 1740, were grown in pure culture and in co-culture. W. succinogenes uses hydrogen as an electron acceptor for fumarate respiration. Cell growth was monitored by optical density (OD600) and quantitative polymerase chain reac…
abstract: The mutually beneficial interdependence of hydrogen-producing and hydrogen-utilizing bacteria was discovered by M. P. Bryant, M. J. Wolin and R. S. Wolfe at the University of Illinois in 1967. Based on thermodynamic principles, interspecies hydrogen transfer is a central process in anaerobic environments linking transfer of reducing power from fermentation of organic molecules to inorganic electron acceptors via hydrogen. Interspecies hydrogen transfer is the most significant example of unidirectional substrate supply enabling the syntrophic metabolic association between interacting microbial species and plays a significant role in the global methane cycle. Ruminococcus albus 7 is a hydrogen-producing, fermentative bacterium with two known hydrogen-producing hydrogenase complexes, HydABC and HydA2, as well as a putative hydrogen-sensing protein, HydS. HydABC is the only chromosomal hydrogenase, while HydA2 and HydS form a transcriptional unit on its plasmid pRumal01. The electron-bifurcating ferredoxin- and NAD-dependent [FeFe]-hydrogenase, HydABC, couples proton reduction using nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) to proton reduction using reduced ferredoxin (Fdred), producing molecular hydrogen: 3 H+ + NADH + Fdred → 2 H2 + NAD+ + Fdox. HydA2, a ferredoxin-dependent [FeFe]-hydrogenase, reduces protons to molecular hydrogen using only reduced ferredoxin: 2 H+ + Fdred → H2 + Fdox. HydS contains a PAS domain, which often are present on sensory proteins. In addition, HydS contains a putative redox-sensing [4Fe:4S] cluster. We hypothesized HydS transcriptionally regulates HydA2 in a manner dependent on the presence of a hydrogen-utilizing syntroph. To test this hypothesis, R. albus 7 and a hydrogen-utilizing bacterium, Wolinella succinogenes DSM 1740, were grown in pure culture and in co-culture. W. succinogenes uses hydrogen as an electron acceptor for fumarate respiration. Cell growth was monitored by optical density (OD600) and quantitative polymerase chain reac…
author: Geier, Renae Rose
language: en
keywords: interspecies hydrogen transfer, Ruminococcus albus, Wolinella succinogenes, electron bifurcation, hydrogenases, co-culture
date published: 2016-08
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:26:35Z
provider: University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2142/92962