Adaptation to specific environmental conditions
Martin Könneke www.icbm.de
Adaptation
• What environmental factors affect growth?
• Cell structure and growth
• Adaptations to environmental factors
• Cold adaptation in SRB
• Growth above 100 ˚C
What environmental factors affect growth?
• Temperature
• pH
• Water availability
• Oxygen
• Pressure
• (Energy & carbon source)
Extreme <-> Normal Specialist <-> Generalist
Growth <-> Survival Permanent <-> Transient
Obligate <-> Tolerant
Growth Transport
Biosynthesis
Maintainance of highly organized structure Regulation
Detoxification
Macromolecules in the cell
Quelle: Brock Biology of Microorganisms
Fluid-mosaic structure of the membrane
Quelle: Brock Biology of Microorganisms
What environmental factors affect growth?
• Temperature
• pH
• Water availability
• Oxygen
• Pressure
Quelle: Brock Biology of Microorganisms
Temperature limits for life
• Freezing point in seawater around -2 ˚C
• Partially liquid in antarctic sea ice at -15 ˚C
• Liquid up to 300 ˚C at high pressure
• Only Prokaryotes grow above 65 ˚C
• Upper limit: strain 121 grows at 121 ˚C
The acido- and thermophilic algae Cyanidium caldarium
Yellowstone NP, (~50 ˚C, pH 2)
What environmental factors affect growth?
• Temperature
• pH
• Water availability
• Oxygen
• Pressure
Quelle: Brock Biology of Microorganisms
pH and microbial growth
• pH range for growth limited to 2 units
• How can they generate proton motive force?
• Picrophilus oshimae (pH 0.7 - 2)
• Sea water in general well buffered around pH 8
What environmental factors affect growth?
• Temperature
• pH
• Water availability
• Oxygen
• Energy & carbon source
Water activity, osmosis, and halophiles
• All organisms require water
• Water content and substances dissolved in water
• Sea water contains about 3% NaCl
• Halophiles: salt-loving organisms
Quelle: Brock Biology of Microorganisms
NaCl
Quelle: Brock Biology of Microorganisms
Water activity, osmosis, and halophiles
• All organisms require water
• Water content and substances dissolved in water
• Sea water contains about 3% NaCl
• Halophiles
• Osmophiles: live in environments high in sugars
• Xerophiles: live in very dry environemnts
Compatible solutesallow growth under conditions of low water activity.
Quelle: Brock Biology of Microorganisms
Compatible solutesincrease the internal solute concentration.
Quelle: Brock Biology of Microorganisms
What environmental factors affect growth?
• Temperature
• pH
• Water availability
• Oxygen
• Pressure
Toxic forms of oxygen
(By-products during O
2reduction)
Quelle: Brock Biology of Microorganisms
What environmental factors affect growth?
• Temperature
• pH
• Water availability
• Oxygen
• Pressure
Does pressure affect microbial growth?
Pressure increase by 1 bar per 10 m water depth
How can they stand 100 bar in 1000m depth?
Bert Engelen
Temperature adaptation in SRB Dissimilatory sulfate-reduction occurs
between -1.8 ˚C (arctic sediment) and above 100 ˚C (Guaymas basin sediment)
High phylogenetic and physiological diversity
permantly < 5°C
SO42-H2S SO42-
H2S
SO42-H2S
SO42- SO42- changing temperatures
Tropical moderate and
climate
Polar regions
More than 90 % of the ocean biosphere is permantly cold!
Cold adaptations of microorganisms
• Effects on growth rate and growth yield
• Metabolic activity
• Protein flexibility and cold-adapted enzymes
• Protein synthesis and cold-induced proteins
• Effects on membrane and lipid structure
0 °C 10 °C 20 °C 30 °C 40 °C
Ice
MesophilicMost isolated SRB (since Beijerink, 1895)
Psychrotolerant: e.g. Desulfobacter hydrogenophilus(Widdel, 1987)
PsychrophilicIsolates from Arctic sediments (Knoblauch et al., 1999)
Temperature range Optimal temperature
Fluid-mosaic structure of the membrane
Quelle: Brock Biology of Microorganisms
saturated fatty acids cis-unsaturated
fatty acids
short-chain branched fatty acids
Low temperature High temperature
Temperature adaptation of bacterial membrane fatty acids
saturated fatty acids
long chain
Desaturase De novo- synthesis
De novo- synthesis
De novo-
4 °C 12 °C 20 °C 28 °C
Desulfofaba gelida Desulfofrigus oceanense Desulfotalea psychrophila
Desulfotalea arctica
40%
73%
82%
85%
70%
78%
83%
contains high amounts(>70%) of short chain fatty acids
Effect of temperature on unsaturated fatty acids in psychrophilic SRB
Desulforhopalus
vacuolatus 85% 81%
Total amount of unsaturated fatty acids
Desulfovibrio desulfuricans Desulfococcus multivorans
Desulfosarcina variabilis
49%
25%
23%
23%
22%
Desulfobacter
hydrogenophilus 65% 61% 43% 27%
50%
Desulfobacter
postgatei 43% 24% 11%
4 °C 12 °C 20 °C 28 °C
Effect of temperature on unsaturated fatty acids in mesophilic SRB
Total amount of unsaturated fatty acids
0 10 20 30 40 50
0 5 10 15
cyc 17:0 c9 16:1 10Me 16:0 16:0
0,00 0,10 0,20 0,30 0,40
0 5 10 15
Time (days) 0,4
0,3
0,2
0,1 OD 660 nmFatty acid content (%)
0 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4
0 10 20 30 40 50
Time (days)
OD 660 nm
0 10 20 30 40 50
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Fatty acid content (%)
16:0 c9 16:1
10Me 16:0 cyc 17:0
12 °C Precultured at 28 °C 28 °C
Time course of changes in cellualr fatty acids at different growth-temperatures in D. hydrogenophilus
Changes in the fatty acid composition of Desulfobacter hydrogenophilus
Saturated Fatty acids
16:0
Cyclopropane Fatty acids
cyc17:0 cis-unsaturated
Fatty acids c9 16:1
De novo synthesis
SynthaseCFA-
Low Temperature High Temperature
(Stationary growth-phase)
Protein pattern of
Desulfobacterium autotrophicum Grown at different temperatures
• exhibited constant fatty acid composition with high amounts of unsaturated or short-chain fatty acids.
• are “specialists“ in a small temperature range, in which they probably outcomplete mesophilic/ psychrotolerant species.
• change the ratio of saturated, unsaturated and cyclopropane containg fatty acids with changing temperature via de novo synthesis.
• are “generalists“, which propably outcomplete psychrophiles in environments with changing tempeartures.
Psychrophiles
(permantly cold sediments) Psychrotolerants (moderate climate)
Quelle: Brock Biology of Microorganisms
Black Smoker (hydrothermal vent)
C. Cary
So-called "black smokers" are the hottest of the vents.
Quelle: Brock Biology of Microorganisms
Lipid bonds in Bacteria, Eukarya and Archaea
Quelle: Brock Biology of Microorganisms
Etherlipids in Archaea
Side chains consist of repeating isoprene units!
Quelle: Brock Biology of Microorganisms
Structure of archaeal membranes
Glycerol-diether Glycerol-tetraether
In general,temperature is the most
important environmental factor in marine systems.
…and easy to reproduce in the lab!