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Desulfobacter psychrotolerans sp. nov., a new psychrotolerant sulfate-reducing bacterium and descriptions of its physiological response to temperature changes

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Abstract

A psychrotrolerant acetate-oxidizing sulfate-reducing bacterium (strain akvbT) was isolated from sediment from the northern part of The North Sea with annual temperature fluctuations between 8 and 14 °C. Of the various substrates tested, strain akvbT grew exclusively by the oxidation of acetate coupled to the reduction of sulfate. The cells were motile, thick rods with round ends and grew in dense aggregates. Strain akvbT grew at temperatures ranging from −3.6 to 26.3 °C. Optimal growth was observed at 20 °C. The highest cell specific sulfate reduction rate of 6.2 fmol cell−1 d−1 determined by the ^{35}\hbox{SO}_{4}^{2-} method was measured at 26 °C. The temperature range of short-term sulfate reduction rates exceeded the temperature range of growth by 5 °C. The Arrhenius relationship for the temperature dependence of growth and sulfate reduction was linear, with two distinct slopes below the optimum temperatures of both processes. The critical temperature was 6.4 °C. The highest growth yield (4.3–4.5 g dry weight mol−1 acetate) was determined at temperatures between 5 and 15 °C. The cellular fatty acid composition was determined with cultures grown at 4 and 20 °C, respectively. The relative proportion of cellular unsaturated fatty acids (e.g. 16:1ω7c) was higher in cells grown at 4 °C than in cells grown at 20 °C. The physiological responses to temperature changes showed that strain akvbT was well adapted to the temperature regime of the environment from which it was isolated. Phylogenetic analysis showed that strain akvbT is closest related to Desulfobacter hydrogenophilus, with a 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of 98.6%. DNA–DNA-hybridization showed a similarity of 32% between D. hydrogenophilus and strain akvbT. Based on phenotypic and DNA-based characteristics we propose that strain akvbT is a member of a new species, Desulfobacter psychrotolerans sp.␣nov.

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Acknowledgements

The study was supported by SNF Grant No. 21-00-0309. Kai Finster thanks the crew of the research vessel R/V Heincke for a very fruitful sampling cruise. We thank Tove Wiegers for her skilful technical assistance, Kasper Kjeldsen for help with the phylogentic analysis and Rodney Herbert for a critical review of the manuscript. The constructive criticism of 3 anonymous reviewers is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, Bldg. 540, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Aarhus, 8000, Aarhus, Denmark

    Irene H. Tarpgaard & Kai Finster

  2. Max Planck Institute for Marine Biology, Celcius Strasse 1, 28359, Bremen, Germany

    Antje Boetius

  3. International University Bremen, 28759, Bremen, Germany

    Antje Boetius

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  1. Irene H. Tarpgaard
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  2. Antje Boetius
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Correspondence to Kai Finster.

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Tarpgaard, I.H., Boetius, A. & Finster, K. Desulfobacter psychrotolerans sp. nov., a new psychrotolerant sulfate-reducing bacterium and descriptions of its physiological response to temperature changes. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek 89, 109–124 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-005-9014-1

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