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Heat and phosphate starvation effects on the proteome, morphology and chemical composition of the biomining bacteria Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans

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Abstract

Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans is a Gram negative, acidophilic, chemolithoautotrophic bacterium that plays an important role in metal bioleaching. During bioleaching, the cells are subjected to changes in the growth temperature and nutrients starvation. The aim of this study was to gather information about the response of the A.ferrooxidans Brazilian strain LR to K2HPO4 starvation and heat stress through investigation of cellular morphology, chemical composition and differential proteome. The scanning electron microscopic results showed that under the tested stress conditions, A. ferrooxidans cells became elongated while the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis showed alterations in the wavenumbers between 850 and 1,275 cm−1, which are related to carbohydrates, phospholipids and phosphoproteins. These findings indicate that the bacterial cell surface is affected by the tested stress conditions. A proteomic analysis, using 2-DE and tandem mass spectrometry, enabled the identification of 44 differentially expressed protein spots, being 30 due to heat stress (40°C) and 14 due to K2HPO4 starvation. The identified proteins belonged to 11 different functional categories, including protein fate, energy metabolism and cellular processes. The upregulated proteins were mainly from protein fate and energy metabolism categories. The obtained results provide evidences that A. ferrooxidans LR responds to heat stress and K2HPO4 starvation by inducing alterations in cellular morphology and chemical composition of the cell surface. Also, the identification of several proteins involved in protein fate suggests that the bacteria cellular homesostasis was affected. In addition, the identification of proteins from different functional categories indicates that the A. ferrooxidans response to higher than optimal temperatures and phosphate starvation involves global changes in its physiology.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grant 02/07642-3 from Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP). DAR received a fellowship from Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES). LMMO received a research fellowship from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biologia Molecular e Engenharia Genética (CBMEG), Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), CP 6010, Campinas, SP, 13083-875, Brazil

    Daniela A. Ribeiro, Márcio J. Silva & Laura M. M. Ottoboni

  2. Instituto de Química, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), CP 6154, Campinas, SP, 13083-970, Brazil

    Danilo A. Maretto & Ronei J. Poppi

  3. Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Química, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21941-909, Brazil

    Fábio C. S. Nogueira & Gilberto B. Domont

  4. Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC), CP 6039, Fortaleza, CE, 60455-900, Brazil

    Francisco A. P. Campos

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  1. Daniela A. Ribeiro
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  2. Danilo A. Maretto
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  3. Fábio C. S. Nogueira
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  4. Márcio J. Silva
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  5. Francisco A. P. Campos
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  6. Gilberto B. Domont
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  7. Ronei J. Poppi
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  8. Laura M. M. Ottoboni
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Correspondence to Laura M. M. Ottoboni.

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Ribeiro, D.A., Maretto, D.A., Nogueira, F.C.S. et al. Heat and phosphate starvation effects on the proteome, morphology and chemical composition of the biomining bacteria Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans . World J Microbiol Biotechnol 27, 1469–1479 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-010-0599-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-010-0599-9

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