Title: Pseudodesulfovibrio mercurii sp. nov., a mercury-methylating bacterium isolated from sediment

Abstract

The sulfate-reducing, mercury-methylating strain ND132^T was isolated from the brackish anaerobic bottom sediments of Chesapeake Bay, USA. Capable of high levels of mercury (Hg) methylation, ND132^T has been widely used as a model strain to study the process and to determine the genetic basis of Hg methylation. Originally called Desulfovibrio desulfuricans ND132^T on the basis of an early partial 16S rRNA sequence, the strain has never been formally described. Phylogenetic and physiological traits place this strain within the genus Pseudodesulfovibrio, in the recently reclassified phylum Desulfobacterota (formerly Deltaproteobacteria ). ND132^T is most closely related to Pseudodesulfovibrio hydrargyri BerOc1^T and Pseudodesulfovibrio indicus J2T. Analysis of average nucleotide identity (ANI) of whole-genome sequences showed roughly 88 % ANI between P. hydrargyri BerOc1T and ND132T, and 84 % similarity between ND132T and P. indicus J2^T. These cut-off scores <95 %, along with a multi-gene phylogenetic analysis of members of the family Desulfovibrionacea, and differences in physiology indicate that all three strains represent separate species. The Gram-stain-negative cells are vibrio-shaped, motile and not sporulated. ND132^T is a salt-tolerant mesophile with optimal growth in the laboratory at 32 °C, 2 % salinity, and pH 7.8. The DNA G+C content of the genomic DNA is 65.2more » %. It is an incomplete oxidizer of short chain fatty acids, using lactate, pyruvate and fumarate with sulfate or sulfite as the terminal electron acceptors. ND132^T can respire fumarate using pyruvate as an electron donor. The major fatty acids are iso-C_{15 :0}, anteiso-C_{15 : 0}, iso-C_{17 : 0}, iso-C_{17 : 1}ω9c and anteiso-C_{17 : 0}. We propose the classification of strain ND132^T (DSM 110689, ATCC TSD-224) as the type strain Pseudodesulfovibrio mercurii sp. nov.« less

Authors:

Gilmour, Cynthia C.  ^[1];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-1720-9498"

Soren, Ally Bullock  ^[1];

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Gionfriddo, Caitlin M.  ^[2];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-0745-9255"

Podar, Mircea  ^[3];

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Wall, Judy D.  ^[4];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-9152-5544"

Brown, Steven D.  ^[5];

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Michener, Joshua K.  ^[3];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-2302-8180"

Urriza, Maria Goñi  ^[6];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-0119-3249"

Elias, Dwayne A.  ^[3]

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-4469-6391"

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD (United States)
2. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD (United States)
3. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
4. Univ. of Missouri, Columbia, MO (United States)
5. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); LanzaTech, Skokie, IL (United States)
6. Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour (UPPA), Pau (France). Inst. of Analytical Sciences and Physico-Chemistry for Environment and Materials (IPREM)

Publication Date:

Thu Feb 11 00:00:00 EST 2021

Research Org.:

Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); University of Maryland; Harvard School of Public Health

OSTI Identifier:

1767872

Grant/Contract Number:  

AC05-00OR22725

Resource Type:

Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Volume: 71; Journal Issue: 3; Journal ID: ISSN 1466-5026

Publisher:

International Union of Microbiological Societies

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; incomplete oxidizer; methylmercury; sulfate-reducer