Article
Microbiology
Michael Agne, Lena Appel, Carola Seelmann, Matthias Boll
Summary: Syntrophic bacteria play a key role in the conversion of biological matter to methane. They can convert fatty acids or alcohols to H-2, formate, and acetate that serve as substrates for methanogenic archaea. The mechanism by which syntrophic bacteria convert unsaturated fatty acids such as crotonate without a partner has remained unresolved. This study provides evidence that during growth with crotonate, the oxidation of 3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA to acetoacetyl-CoA is coupled to the reduction of crotonyl-CoA via formate cycling. This unique energy metabolism, known as enoyl-CoA respiration, generates a proton motive force via a redox-loop.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Christian Oeppinger, Florian Kremp, Volker Mueller
Summary: This study focuses on the structure and electron donor of methylene-tetrahydrofolate reductase, providing evidence that reduced ferredoxin cannot be the physiological electron donor under in vivo conditions. The study also discusses the possible reasons for the discrepancy between in vitro and in vivo functions, and presents a model for the incorporation of the MetVF-type MTHFR into metabolism to achieve a positive ATP yield.
INTERNATIONAL MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Florian Kremp, Jennifer Roth, Volker Mueller
Summary: Acetogenic bacteria utilize molecular hydrogen as an electron donor to convert CO2 into acetate, and a cytochrome-containing electron transport chain is involved in energy conservation. This represents a third way of chemiosmotic energy conservation in acetogens, in addition to the well-known respiratory enzymes Rnf and Ech.
MICROBIOLOGY SPECTRUM
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Konomi Suda, Sachiko Sakamoto, Akira Iguchi, Hideyuki Tamaki
Summary: Anaerobic microbial acetogenesis is widely present on Earth and has a significant impact on the global carbon cycle. A new, simple method has been developed to investigate carbon flow in acetogen metabolic reactions by accurately determining the relative abundance of individual isotopomers. By using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) combined with direct aqueous sample injection, the validity of this method was demonstrated and applied to study the carbon fixation mechanism of Acetobacterium woodii. The results showed that methanol was not the sole carbon precursor of acetate methyl group, and a certain percentage of the methyl group was formed from CO2.
Article
Biology
Evgenii N. Frolov, Sergey N. Gavrilov, Stepan V. Toshchakov, Daria G. Zavarzina
Summary: The anaerobic oxidation of fatty acids and alcohols is carried out by syntrophic bacteria that oxidize these compounds and their syntrophic partners that consume the products. The only available method to study these microorganisms is through genomic and metabolic analysis of syntrophic cultures.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Mohd Farid Abdul Halim, Leslie A. Day, Kyle C. Costa
Summary: Hydrogenotrophic methanogens produce methane using H-2 as an electron donor, but can also utilize formate or alcohols as alternative electron donors. Methanogens from the order Methanomicrobiales lack genes encoding hydrogenases, but are capable of growth using formate as an electron donor. Studies on Methanoculleus thermophilus highlight the importance of formate as an electron donor for methanogenesis and suggest its close integration into the metabolic pathway of methanogens from the order Methanomicrobiales.
APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Anupama K. Puppala, Jennifer Castillo Suchkou, Rachel L. French, Kaitlyn A. Kiernan, Miljan Simonovic
Summary: Using high-resolution X-ray crystallography, the study visualized tRNA-dependent conformational changes in human SepSecS and showed that tRNA(Sec) binding organizes the active sites of the catalytic protomer. The study also demonstrated that productive SepSecS·tRNA(Sec) complex formation is driven by electrostatic interactions between tRNA(Sec) and SepSecS. This research provides a structural basis for understanding the terminal reaction of Sec formation.
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2023)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Filipa Calisto, Manuela M. Pereira
Summary: Energy transduction is the process of converting energy from one form to another, enabling life to exist. The transmembrane difference of electrochemical potential serves as a universal energy currency. Modular enzymes allow for different catalytic and charge-translocating modules to combine, forming energy-transducing complexes.
BIOCHEMICAL SOCIETY TRANSACTIONS
(2021)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jean Chaudiere
Summary: Selenocysteine is a catalytic residue essential for the function of selenoenzymes in bacteria and mammals, being incorporated into polypeptides through a recoding process. Mammals possess 25 genes encoding selenoproteins, which primarily function as antioxidants and regulators of cell metabolism. Selenoprotein P serves as a reservoir for selenocysteine in mammals, while glutathione peroxidases, although extensively studied, still have unknown distribution and regulatory functions.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Valerie A. Delmas, Nadia Perchat, Oriane Monet, Marion Foure, Ekatarina Darii, David Roche, Ivan Dubois, Emilie Pateau, Alain Perret, Volker Doring, Madeleine Bouzon
Summary: This study successfully implemented formate assimilation in Escherichia coli through stepwise adaptive evolution, revealing the mutational path and crucial enzymatic variations in the synthetic pathway. The results provide important theoretical basis for pathway engineering.
METABOLIC ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Biology
Yunus Emre Arvas, Ismail Kocacaliskan, Semiha Erisen, Emel Ordu
Summary: This study was conducted to investigate the physiological effects, antioxidant activities, and gene expressions of different rice varieties under salt stress. The results showed that the varieties exhibited different responses to salt concentrations in terms of root and stem length, enzyme activities, and gene expression.
Article
Microbiology
Helge M. Dietrich, Florian Kremp, Christian Oppinger, Luna Ribaric, Volker Mueller
Summary: Methanol, the simplest of all alcohols, is attracting attention for its potential as a substrate for anaerobes to produce value-added chemicals. However, the lack of information on the biochemistry and bioenergetics during methanol conversion in bacteria is hindering the development of environmentally friendly but economically attractive biotechnological processes. The study on Eubacterium callanderi KIST612 aims to analyze the genes and enzymes involved in methanol conversion to acetate, shedding light on the bioenergetics of the process.
ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Mandy Ching Man Yau, Martin Hayes, Shafeer Kalathil
Summary: This review discusses the progress in assembling photosynthetic biohybrid systems using enzymes and microbes as biocatalysts for reducing carbon dioxide to solar fuels. It outlines natural photosynthesis and the motivation for developing artificial photosystems inspired by this process. The review also summarizes different approaches to developing CO2-reducing microbial semi-artificial photosystems and discusses methods for investigating the electron transfer mechanisms in such systems.
Review
Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear
Mikel Bernabeu de Maria, Jeremy Lamarche, Luisa Ronga, Luigi Messori, Joanna Szpunar, Ryszard Lobinski
Summary: This review critically discusses the actual location of Se-metal bonds and the involvement of selenol in proteins containing multiple SeCys residues. It also examines the applications of advanced mass spectrometric and atomic spectroscopic techniques in studying metal-binding sites.
COORDINATION CHEMISTRY REVIEWS
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Sarah Bierbaumer, Maren Nattermann, Luca Schulz, Reinhard Zschoche, Tobias J. Erb, Christoph K. Winkler, Matthias Tinzl, Silvia M. Glueck
Summary: Enzymatic carbon dioxide fixation is important for converting inorganic carbon from the atmosphere into organic biomass. However, the thermodynamics and utilization of CO2 make it challenging for biotechnological applications. This review provides an overview of natural CO2-fixing enzymes, discusses their applications, and suggests strategies for improving efficiency. It also explores the potential of using reduced CO2 derivates and offers a techno-economic perspective on reducing CO2 emissions.
Article
Microbiology
Yogita Patil, Madan Junghare, Michael Pester, Nicolai Mueller, Bernhard Schink
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SYSTEMATIC AND EVOLUTIONARY MICROBIOLOGY
(2015)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Nicolai Mueller, Frank D. Scherag, Michael Pester, Bernhard Schink
SYSTEMATIC AND APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY
(2015)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Yogita Patil, Madan Junghare, Nicolai Mueller
MICROBIAL BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2017)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Bernhard Schink, Dominik Montag, Anja Keller, Nicolai Mueller
ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY REPORTS
(2017)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Yogita Patil, Nicolai Mueller, Bernhard Schink, William B. Whitman, Marcel Huntemann, Alicia Clum, Manoj Pillay, Krishnaveni Palaniappan, Neha Varghese, Natalia Mikhailova, Dimitrios Stamatis, T. B. K. Reddy, Chris Daum, Nicole Shapiro, Natalia Ivanova, Nikos Kyrpides, Tanja Woyke, Madan Junghare
STANDARDS IN GENOMIC SCIENCES
(2017)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Dirk Oehler, Anja Poehlein, Andreas Leimbach, Nicolai Mueller, Rolf Daniel, Gerhard Gottschalk, Bernhard Schink
Article
Microbiology
Xiaoman Xie, Nicolai Mueller
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Alexander Schmidt, Nicolai Mueller, Bernhard Schink, David Schleheck
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Alexander Schmidt, Marco Frensch, David Schleheck, Bernhard Schink, Nicolai Mueller
Review
Environmental Sciences
Nicolai Mueller, Petra Worm, Bernhard Schink, Alfons J. M. Stams, Caroline M. Plugge
ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY REPORTS
(2010)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sebastian Knorr, Malte Sinn, Dmitry Galetskiy, Rhys M. Williams, Changhao Wang, Nicolai Mueller, Olga Mayans, David Schleheck, Joerg S. Hartig
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2018)
Article
Microbiology
Anna Burrichter, Karin Dengerl, Paolo Franchini, Thomas Huhn, Nicolai Mueller, Dieter Spiteller, David Schleheck
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2018)
Article
Microbiology
Anja Keller, Bernhard Schink, Nicolai Mueller
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2019)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Wee-Han Poh, Jianqing Lin, Brendan Colley, Nicolai Mueller, Boon Chong Goh, David Schleheck, Abbas El Sahili, Andreas Marquardt, Yang Liang, Staffan Kjelleberg, Julien Lescar, Scott A. Rice, Janosch Klebensberger