Disease relevance of Acidiphilium

• Aerobic anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria are classified in two marine (Erythrobacter and Roseobacter) and six freshwater (Acidiphilium, Erythromicrobium, Erythromonas, Porphyrobacter, Roseococcus, and Sandaracinobacter) genera, which phylogenetically belong to the alpha-1, alpha-3, and alpha-4 subclasses of the class Proteobacteria [1].
• A novel bacteriophage, termed phi AC1, that infects strains of the genus Acidiphilium (acidophilic, heterotrophic, aerobic, Gram-negative eubacteria) most commonly isolated from acidic mine drainage environments, has been discovered and several of its properties have been determined [2].
• The sulfane sulfur of persulfides is the actual substrate of the sulfur-oxidizing enzymes from Acidithiobacillus and Acidiphilium spp [3].

High impact information on Acidiphilium

• Acidiphilium cryptum JF-5 did not form Fe(II) when preincubated under air and transferred to anoxic medium containing Fe(III) and chloramphenicol, an inhibitor of protein synthesis [4].
• Acidiphilium cryptum JF-5, isolated from this sediment, reduced soluble Fe(III) with either 4 or 21% O2 in the headspace, and concomitantly consumed O2 [4].
• These collective results indicate that the in situ reduction of Fe(III) in acidic sediments can be mediated by heterotrophic Acidiphilium species that are capable of coupling the reduction of Fe(III) to the complete oxidation of a large variety of substrates including glucose and H(2) [5].
• Based on these results, together with previous phylogenetic and phenotypic information, it is proposed to reclassify T. acidophilus (Guay and Silver) Harrison 1983 as Acidiphilium acidophilum comb. nov [6].
• After transformation by electroporation with the plasmid preparation from strain GS19h, an Acidiphilium multivorum strain became highly resistant to cadmium and zinc, and the plasmid profile of the transformed cells was found to differ from that of the original Acidiphilium multivorum strain [7].

Chemical compound and disease context of Acidiphilium

• Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence of JF-5 demonstrated that it was closely related to an Australian isolate of Acidiphilium cryptum (99.6% sequence similarity), an organism not previously shown to couple the complete oxidation of sugars to the reduction of Fe(III) [5].
• On the basis of these results and previous findings a biochemical model for elemental sulfur and sulfide oxidation in Acidithiobacillus and Acidiphilium spp. is proposed [3].
• Comparing the deduced amino acid sequences of the puf genes of the Acidiphilium species with those of other purple bacteria showed that His L168, which is highly conserved in other bacteria, is replaced by a glutamic acid in the Acidiphilium species [8].
• SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Ferric iron reduction by Acidiphilium spp. may occur in oxygen-containing as well as anoxic acidic environments [9].
• Isolation and characterisation of the lipopolysaccharide from Acidiphilium strain GS18h/ATCC55963, a soil isolate of Indian copper mine [10].

Biological context of Acidiphilium

• The nucleotide sequences of the pufL and -M of Acidiphilium cryptum, Acidiphilium multivorum, and Acidiphilium organovorum were also determined [8].

Gene context of Acidiphilium

• A membrane-bound ATPase of Acidiphilium cryptum, an acidophilic bacterium of mine origin, has been studied [11].

References