Poison + water = hydrogen. New microbial genome shows how
< http://www.keralanext.com/news/index.asp?id=455612 >
Rockville, Md.--Take a pot of scalding water, remove all
the oxygen, mix in a bit of poisonous carbon monoxide,
and add a pinch of hydrogen gas. It sounds like a recipe
for a witch's brew. It may be, but it is also the preferred
environment for a microbe known as Carboxydothermus
hydrogenoformans. In a paper published in the November
27th issue of PLoS Genetics, a research team led by
scientists at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR)
report the determination and analysis of the complete
genome sequence of this organism. Isolated from a hot
spring on the Russian volcanic island of Kunashir, this
microbe lives almost entirely on carbon monoxide. While
consuming this normally poisonous gas, the microbe mixes
it with water, producing hydrogen gas as waste.
As the world increasingly considers hydrogen as a potential
biofuel, technology could benefit from having the genomes
of such microbes. "C. hydrogenoformans is one of the
fastest-growing microbes that can convert water and carbon
monoxide to hydrogen," remarks TIGR evolutionary biologist
Jonathan Eisen, senior author of the PLoS Genetics study.
"So if you're interested in making clean fuels, this
microbe makes an excellent starting point."
In sequencing the microbe's genome, Eisen and his
collaborators discovered why C. hydrogenoformans grows
more rapidly on carbon monoxide than other species:
The bug boasts at least five different forms of a protein
machine, dubbed carbon monoxide deyhydrogenase, that is
able to manipulate the poisonous gas. Each form of the
machine appears to allow the organism to use carbon
monoxide in a different way. Most other organisms that
live on carbon monoxide have only one form of this
machine. In other words, while other organisms may
have the equivalent of a modest mixing bowl to process
their supper of carbon monoxide, this species has a
veritable food processor, letting it gorge on a hot
spring buffet all day. "The findings show the continued
value of microbial genome sequencing for exploring
the useful capabilities of the vast realm of microbial
life on Earth," says Ari Patrinos, director of the
Office of Biological and Environmental Research, part
of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of
Science. DOE, which funded the study, is pursuing
clean fuel technologies.
Little was known about this hydrogen-breathing organism
before its genome sequence was determined. By utilizing
computational analyses and comparison with the genomes
of other organisms, the researchers have discovered
several remarkable features. For example, the genome
encodes a full suite of genes for making spores, a
previously unknown talent of the microbe. Organisms
that make spores have attracted great interest recently
because this is a process found in the bacterium that
causes anthrax. Sporulation allows anthrax to be used
as a bioweopon because the spores are resistant to heat,
radiation, and other treatments.
By comparing this genome to those of other spore-making
species, including the anthrax pathogen, Eisen and
colleagues identified what may be the minimal biochemica
machinery necessary for any microbe to sporulate. Thus
studies of this poison eating microbe may help us better
understand the biology of the bacterium that causes
anthrax. Building off this work, TIGR scientists are
leveraging the information from the genome of this organism
to study the ecology of microbes living in diverse hot
springs, such as those in Yellowstone National Park. They
want to know what types of microbes are found in different
hot springs--and why. To find out, the researchers are
dipping into the hot springs of Yellowstone, Russia, and
other far-flung locales, to isolate and decipher the
genomes of microbes found there.
"What we want to have is a field guide for these microbes,
like those available for birds and mammals," Eisen says.
"Right now, we can't even answer simple questions. Do
similar hot springs, a world apart, share similar microbes?
How do microbes move between hot springs? Our new work will
help us find out."
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