Molecular interplay of an assembly machinery for nitrous oxide reductase.

Emissions of the critical ozone-depleting and greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) from soils and industrial processes have increased considerably over the last decades1-3. As the final step of bacterial denitrification, N2O is reduced to chemically inert N2 (refs. 1,4) in a reaction that is catalysed by the copper-dependent nitrous oxide reductase (N2OR) (ref. 5). The assembly of its unique [4Cu:2S] active site cluster CuZ requires both the ATP-binding-cassette (ABC) complex NosDFY and the membrane-anchored copper chaperone NosL (refs. 4,6). Here we report cryo-electron microscopy structures of Pseudomonas stutzeri NosDFY and its complexes with NosL and N2OR, respectively. We find that the periplasmic NosD protein contains a binding site for a Cu+ ion and interacts specifically with NosL in its nucleotide-free state, whereas its binding to N2OR requires a conformational change that is triggered by ATP binding. Mutually exclusive structures of NosDFY in complex with NosL and with N2OR reveal a sequential metal-trafficking and assembly pathway for a highly complex copper site. Within this pathway, NosDFY acts as a mechanical energy transducer rather than as a transporter. It links ATP hydrolysis in the cytoplasm to a conformational transition of the NosD subunit in the periplasm, which is required for NosDFY to switch its interaction partner so that copper ions are handed over from the chaperone NosL to the enzyme N2OR.

MerF is a novel regulator of deep-sea Pseudomonas stutzeri flagellum biogenesis and motility.

MerF, a proposed bacterial mercury transporter, was surprisingly found to play key roles in the flagellum biogenesis and motility but not mercuric resistance of the deep-sea bacterium Pseudomonas stutzeri 273 in our previous study. However, the mechanism behind this interesting discovery has not been elucidated. Here, we firstly applied the combined transcriptomic and proteomic analysis to the P. stutzeri 273 wild type and merF deletion mutant. The results showed that expressions of extracellular flagellar components and FliS, a key factor controlling the biogenesis of extracellular flagellar filament, were significantly downregulated in the merF deletion mutant. In combination of genetic and biochemical methods, MerF was further demonstrated to regulate the expression of fliS via directly binding to its promoter, which is consistent with the discovery that MerF is essential for bacterial flagellum biogenesis and motility. Importantly, the expression of merF and fliS could be simultaneously upregulated by different heavy metals and MerF homologues exist in both bacterial and archaeal domains. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report linking the heavy metal transporter and the flagellum biogenesis and motility in microorganisms, which provides a good model to investigate the unexplored adaptation strategies of deep-sea microbes against harsh conditions.

Denitrification by Pseudomonas stutzeri coupled with CO2 reduction by Sporomusa ovata with hydrogen as an electron donor assisted by solid-phase humin.

A co-culture system comprising an acetogenic bacterium, Sporomusa ovata DSMZ2662, and a denitrifying bacterium, Pseudomonas stutzeri JCM20778, enabled denitrification using H2 as the sole external electron donor and CO2 as the sole external carbon source. Acetate produced by S. ovata supported the heterotrophic denitrification of P. stutzeri. A nitrogen balance study showed the reduction of nitrate to nitrogen gas without the accumulation of nitrite and nitrous oxide in the co-culture system. S. ovata did not show nitrate reduction to ammonium in the co-culture system. Significant proportions of the consumed H2 were utilized for denitrification: 79.9 ± 4.6% in the co-culture system containing solid-phase humin and 62.9±11.1% in the humin-free co-culture system. The higher utilization efficiency of hydrogen in the humin-containing system was attributed to the higher denitrification activity of P. stutzeri under the acetate deficient conditions. The nitrogen removal rate of the humin-containing co-culture system reached 0.19 kg NO3(-)-N·m(-3)·d(-1). Stable denitrification activity for 61 days of successive sub-culturing suggested the robustness of this co-culture system. This study provides a novel strategy for the in situ enhancement of microbial denitrification.

Activation of accumulated nitrite reduction by immobilized Pseudomonas stutzeri T13 during aerobic denitrification.

The excellent removal efficiency of nitrate by the aerobic denitrifier, Pseudomonas stutzeri T13, was achieved in free cells system. However, poor nitrite reduction prevents efficient aerobic denitrification because of the nitrite accumulation. This problem could be conquered by immobilizing the cells on supports. In this study, strain T13 was immobilized by mycelial pellets (MPs), polyurethane foam cubes (PFCs) and sodium alginate beads (SABs). Higher removal percentages of TN in MP (43.78%), PFC (42.31%) and SAB (57.25%) systems were achieved compared with the free cell system (29.7%). Furthermore, the optimal condition for immobilized cell systems was as follows: 30°C, 100rpm shaking speed and pH 7. The shock-resistance of SAB system was relatively poor, which could collapse under either alkaline (pH=9) or high rotating (200rpm) conditions. The recycling experiments demonstrated that the high steady TN removal rate could be maintained for seven cycles in both MP and PFC systems.

Multiple phenotypic changes associated with large-scale horizontal gene transfer.

Horizontal gene transfer often leads to phenotypic changes within recipient organisms independent of any immediate evolutionary benefits. While secondary phenotypic effects of horizontal transfer (i.e., changes in growth rates) have been demonstrated and studied across a variety of systems using relatively small plasmids and phage, little is known about the magnitude or number of such costs after the transfer of larger regions. Here we describe numerous phenotypic changes that occur after a large-scale horizontal transfer event (∼1 Mb megaplasmid) within Pseudomonas stutzeri including sensitization to various stresses as well as changes in bacterial behavior. These results highlight the power of horizontal transfer to shift pleiotropic relationships and cellular networks within bacterial genomes. They also provide an important context for how secondary effects of transfer can bias evolutionary trajectories and interactions between species. Lastly, these results and system provide a foundation to investigate evolutionary consequences in real time as newly acquired regions are ameliorated and integrated into new genomic contexts.