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Recent Advances in Metabolic Pathways of Sulfate Reduction in Intestinal Bacteria.
Kushkevych, I, Cejnar, J, Treml, J, Dordević, D, Kollar, P, Vítězová, M
Cells. 2020;(3)
Abstract
Sulfate is present in foods, beverages, and drinking water. Its reduction and concentration in the gut depend on the intestinal microbiome activity, especially sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB), which can be involved in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Assimilatory sulfate reduction (ASR) is present in all living organisms. In this process, sulfate is reduced to hydrogen sulfide and then included in cysteine and methionine biosynthesis. In contrast to assimilatory sulfate reduction, the dissimilatory process is typical for SRB. A terminal product of this metabolism pathway is hydrogen sulfide, which can be involved in gut inflammation and also causes problems in industries (due to corrosion effects). The aim of the review was to compare assimilatory and dissimilatory sulfate reduction (DSR). These processes occur in some species of intestinal bacteria (e.g., Escherichia and Desulfovibrio genera). The main attention was focused on the description of genes and their location in selected strains. Their coding expression of the enzymes is associated with anabolic processes in various intestinal bacteria. These analyzed recent advances can be important factors for proposing possibilities of metabolic pathway extension from hydrogen sulfide to cysteine in intestinal SRB. The switch from the DSR metabolic pathway to the ASR metabolic pathway is important since toxic sulfide is not produced as a final product.
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Novel sulfate tablet PBK-1701TC versus oral sulfate solution for colon cleansing: A randomized phase 3 trial.
Yang, HJ, Park, DI, Park, SK, Lee, CK, Kim, HJ, Oh, SJ, Moon, JR, Lee, BJ, Koh, JS, Kim, HS, et al
Journal of gastroenterology and hepatology. 2020;(1):29-36
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIM PBK-1701TC is a novel sulfate tablet-based that contains 320 mg of simethicone and delivers 90% of the salt and water delivered by oral sulfate solution (OSS) preparation. This study evaluated the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of PBK-1701TC compared with OSS in bowel preparation for colonoscopy. METHODS This randomized, multicenter, phase 3 non-inferiority trial included adults aged 19 years or older with a body mass index of 19-30 kg/m2 undergoing colonoscopy at five university hospitals in Korea. The primary efficacy endpoint was successful bowel-cleansing rate, defined as Harefield Cleansing Scale grade A or B as evaluated by blinded central readers. Secondary endpoints included the presence of residual air bubbles. Adverse events and laboratory evaluations were monitored to assess safety. Tolerability was assessed via participant interview. RESULTS Overall, 235 participants were randomized, and 224 were included in the per-protocol analysis (PBK, 112; OSS, 112). Successful bowel cleansing was achieved for 95.5% (107/112) in the PBK group, which was non-inferior to the OSS group (98.2%, 110/112) with a difference of -2.7% (one sided 97.5% confidence limit, -8.1%). The participants in the PBK group had fewer intraluminal bubbles (0.9% vs 81.3%, P < 0.001) and reported a lower incidence of nausea and vomiting, with better acceptance, taste, and willingness to repeat the regimen than those in the OSS group (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSION The novel sulfate tablet, PBK-1701TC, was non-inferior to OSS with respect to bowel-cleansing efficacy and exhibited better safety and tolerability in adults undergoing colonoscopy.
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Effects of Genetic and Physiological Divergence on the Evolution of a Sulfate-Reducing Bacterium under Conditions of Elevated Temperature.
Kempher, ML, Tao, X, Song, R, Wu, B, Stahl, DA, Wall, JD, Arkin, AP, Zhou, A, Zhou, J
mBio. 2020;(4)
Abstract
Adaptation via natural selection is an important driver of evolution, and repeatable adaptations of replicate populations, under conditions of a constant environment, have been extensively reported. However, isolated groups of populations in nature tend to harbor both genetic and physiological divergence due to multiple selective pressures that they have encountered. How this divergence affects adaptation of these populations to a new common environment remains unclear. To determine the impact of prior genetic and physiological divergence in shaping adaptive evolution to accommodate a new common environment, an experimental evolution study with the sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough (DvH) was conducted. Two groups of replicate populations with genetic and physiological divergence, derived from a previous evolution study, were propagated in an elevated-temperature environment for 1,000 generations. Ancestor populations without prior experimental evolution were also propagated in the same environment as a control. After 1,000 generations, all the populations had increased growth rates and all but one had greater fitness in the new environment than the ancestor population. Moreover, improvements in growth rate were moderately affected by the divergence in the starting populations, while changes in fitness were not significantly affected. The mutations acquired at the gene level in each group of populations were quite different, indicating that the observed phenotypic changes were achieved by evolutionary responses that differed between the groups. Overall, our work demonstrated that the initial differences in fitness between the starting populations were eliminated by adaptation and that phenotypic convergence was achieved by acquisition of mutations in different genes.IMPORTANCE Improving our understanding of how previous adaptation influences evolution has been a long-standing goal in evolutionary biology. Natural selection tends to drive populations to find similar adaptive solutions for the same selective conditions. However, variations in historical environments can lead to both physiological and genetic divergence that can make evolution unpredictable. Here, we assessed the influence of divergence on the evolution of a model sulfate-reducing bacterium, Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough, in response to elevated temperature and found a significant effect at the genetic but not the phenotypic level. Understanding how these influences drive evolution will allow us to better predict how bacteria will adapt to various ecological constraints.
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Oxygen isotope effects during microbial sulfate reduction: applications to sediment cell abundances.
Bertran, E, Waldeck, A, Wing, BA, Halevy, I, Leavitt, WD, Bradley, AS, Johnston, DT
The ISME journal. 2020;(6):1508-1519
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Abstract
The majority of anaerobic biogeochemical cycling occurs within marine sediments. To understand these processes, quantifying the distribution of active cells and gross metabolic activity is essential. We present an isotope model rooted in thermodynamics to draw quantitative links between cell-specific sulfate reduction rates and active sedimentary cell abundances. This model is calibrated using data from a series of continuous culture experiments with two strains of sulfate reducing bacteria (freshwater bacterium Desulfovibrio vulgaris strain Hildenborough, and marine bacterium Desulfovibrio alaskensis strain G-20) grown on lactate across a range of metabolic rates and ambient sulfate concentrations. We use a combination of experimental sulfate oxygen isotope data and nonlinear regression fitting tools to solve for unknown kinetic, step-specific oxygen isotope effects. This approach enables identification of key isotopic reactions within the metabolic pathway, and defines a new, calibrated framework for understanding oxygen isotope variability in sulfate. This approach is then combined with porewater sulfate/sulfide concentration data and diagenetic modeling to reproduce measured 18O/16O in porewater sulfate. From here, we infer cell-specific sulfate reduction rates and predict abundance of active cells of sulfate reducing bacteria, the result of which is consistent with direct biological measurements.
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Design, application, and microbiome of sulfate-reducing bioreactors for treatment of mining-influenced water.
Habe, H, Sato, Y, Aoyagi, T, Inaba, T, Hori, T, Hamai, T, Hayashi, K, Kobayashi, M, Sakata, T, Sato, N
Applied microbiology and biotechnology. 2020;(16):6893-6903
Abstract
Sulfate-reducing bioreactors, also called biochemical reactors, represent a promising option for passive treatment of mining-influenced water (MIW) based on similar technology to aerobic/anaerobic-constructed wetlands and vertical-flow wetlands. MIW from each mine site has a variety of site-specific properties related to its treatment; therefore, design factors, including the organic substrates and inorganic materials packed into the bioreactor, must be tested and evaluated before installation of full-scale sulfate-reducing bioreactors. Several full-scale sulfate-reducing bioreactors operating at mine sites provide examples, but holistic understanding of the complex treatment processes occurring inside the bioreactors is lacking. With the recent introduction of high-throughput DNA sequencing technologies, microbial processes within bioreactors may be clarified based on the relationships between operational parameters and key microorganisms identified using high-resolution microbiome data. In this review, the test design procedures and precedents of full-scale bioreactor application for MIW treatment are briefly summarized, and recent knowledge on the sulfate-reducing microbial communities of field-based bioreactors from fine-scale monitoring is presented.Key points• Sulfate-reducing bioreactors are promising for treatment of mining-influenced water.• Various design factors should be tested for application of full-scale bioreactors.• Introduction of several full-scale passive bioreactor systems at mine sites.• Desulfosporosinus spp. can be one of the key bacteria within field-based bioreactors.
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Integration of sulfate assimilation with carbon and nitrogen metabolism in transition from C3 to C4 photosynthesis.
Jobe, TO, Zenzen, I, Rahimzadeh Karvansara, P, Kopriva, S
Journal of experimental botany. 2019;(16):4211-4221
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Abstract
The first product of sulfate assimilation in plants, cysteine, is a proteinogenic amino acid and a source of reduced sulfur for plant metabolism. Cysteine synthesis is the convergence point of the three major pathways of primary metabolism: carbon, nitrate, and sulfate assimilation. Despite the importance of metabolic and genetic coordination of these three pathways for nutrient balance in plants, the molecular mechanisms underlying this coordination, and the sensors and signals, are far from being understood. This is even more apparent in C4 plants, where coordination of these pathways for cysteine synthesis includes the additional challenge of differential spatial localization. Here we review the coordination of sulfate, nitrate, and carbon assimilation, and show how they are altered in C4 plants. We then summarize current knowledge of the mechanisms of coordination of these pathways. Finally, we identify urgent questions to be addressed in order to understand the integration of sulfate assimilation with carbon and nitrogen metabolism particularly in C4 plants. We consider answering these questions to be a prerequisite for successful engineering of C4 photosynthesis into C3 crops to increase their efficiency.
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Phosphate and sulphate-mediated structure and stability of bone morphogenetic protein - 2 (BMP - 2): A spectroscopy enabled investigation.
Konar, M, Sahoo, H
International journal of biological macromolecules. 2019;:1123-1133
Abstract
Impact of different monovalent and divalent cationic salts of sulphates and phosphates on conformation and stability of BMP - 2 was unraveled by absorbance, fluorescence and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. Increase in absorbance of protein confirms the ground-state complexation between salt and BMP - 2. Phosphate salts, with the exception of sodium phosphate quenched the fluorescence intensity. The nature of quenching was static, as revealed by temperature-dependent fluorescence studies (Stern-Volmer constant (KSV) decreased with rise in temperature). Moreover, kq (bimolecular quenching constant) was in the range of 1012 M-1 s-1, confirming binding of phosphate salts with the protein. Contrary to this, sulphate salts increased the fluorescence intensity and excited-state lifetime of BMP - 2 (2.668 ns), with the maximum calculated for 300 mM sodium sulphate (3.216 ns). Phosphates reduced the lifetime of protein, with the least observed in presence of 300 mM magnesium phosphate (1.480 ns). Thermal stability of the protein (Tm = 70.66 °C) was altered significantly upon interaction with phosphate salts; however, it did not vary significantly in case of sulphates (exception - magnesium sulphate). Experimental evidences confirm the role played by anionic group on protein conformation and stability and identifies monovalent and divalent cations as insignificant contributor.
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Physiology and Distribution of Archaeal Methanotrophs That Couple Anaerobic Oxidation of Methane with Sulfate Reduction.
Bhattarai, S, Cassarini, C, Lens, PNL
Microbiology and molecular biology reviews : MMBR. 2019;(3)
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Abstract
In marine anaerobic environments, methane is oxidized where sulfate-rich seawater meets biogenic or thermogenic methane. In those niches, a few phylogenetically distinct microbial types, i.e., anaerobic methanotrophs (ANME), are able to grow through anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM). Due to the relevance of methane in the global carbon cycle, ANME have drawn the attention of a broad scientific community for 4 decades. This review presents and discusses the microbiology and physiology of ANME up to the recent discoveries, revealing novel physiological types of anaerobic methane oxidizers which challenge the view of obligate syntrophy for AOM. An overview of the drivers shaping the distribution of ANME in different marine habitats, from cold seep sediments to hydrothermal vents, is given. Multivariate analyses of the abundance of ANME in various habitats identify a distribution of distinct ANME types driven by the mode of methane transport. Intriguingly, ANME have not yet been cultivated in pure culture, despite intense attempts. Further advances in understanding this microbial process are hampered by insufficient amounts of enriched cultures. This review discusses the advantages, limitations, and potential improvements for ANME laboratory-based cultivation systems.
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Sulfate is transported at significant rates through the symbiosome membrane and is crucial for nitrogenase biosynthesis.
Schneider, S, Schintlmeister, A, Becana, M, Wagner, M, Woebken, D, Wienkoop, S
Plant, cell & environment. 2019;(4):1180-1189
Abstract
Legume-rhizobia symbioses play a major role in food production for an ever growing human population. In this symbiosis, dinitrogen is reduced ("fixed") to ammonia by the rhizobial nitrogenase enzyme complex and is secreted to the plant host cells, whereas dicarboxylic acids derived from photosynthetically produced sucrose are transported into the symbiosomes and serve as respiratory substrates for the bacteroids. The symbiosome membrane contains high levels of SST1 protein, a sulfate transporter. Sulfate is an essential nutrient for all living organisms, but its importance for symbiotic nitrogen fixation and nodule metabolism has long been underestimated. Using chemical imaging, we demonstrate that the bacteroids take up 20-fold more sulfate than the nodule host cells. Furthermore, we show that nitrogenase biosynthesis relies on high levels of imported sulfate, making sulfur as essential as carbon for the regulation and functioning of symbiotic nitrogen fixation. Our findings thus establish the importance of sulfate and its active transport for the plant-microbe interaction that is most relevant for agriculture and soil fertility.
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Sulfated Polysaccharides from Macroalgae for Bone Tissue Regeneration.
Venkatesan, J, Anil, S, Rao, S, Bhatnagar, I, Kim, SK
Current pharmaceutical design. 2019;(11):1200-1209
Abstract
BACKGROUND Utilization of macroalgae has gained much attention in the field of pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, food and bioenergy. Macroalgae has been widely consumed in Asian countries as food from ancient days and proved that it has potential bioactive compounds which are responsible for its nutritional properties. Macroalgae consists of a diverse range of bioactive compounds including proteins, lipids, pigments, polysaccharides, etc. Polysaccharides from macroalgae have been utilized in food industries as gelling agents and drug excipients in the pharmaceutical industries owing to their biocompatibility and gel forming properties. Exploration of macroalgae derived sulfated polysaccharides in biomedical applications is increasing recently. METHODS In the current review, we have provided information of three different sulfated polysaccharides such as carrageenan, fucoidan and ulvan and their isolation procedure (enzymatic precipitation, microwave assisted method, and enzymatic hydrolysis method), structural details, and their biomedical applications exclusively for bone tissue repair and regeneration. RESULTS From the scientific results on sulfated polysaccharides from macroalgae, we conclude that sulfated polysaccharides have exceptional properties in terms of hydrogel-forming ability, scaffold formation, and mimicking the extracellular matrix, increasing alkaline phosphatase activity, enhancement of biomineralization ability and stem cell differentiation for bone tissue regeneration. CONCLUSION Overall, sulfated polysaccharides from macroalgae may be promising biomaterials in bone tissue repair and regeneration.