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SulfatereducingbacteriaWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Sulfatereducingbacteria
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Sulfatereducingbacteriaarethosebacteriaandarchaea[1]thatcanobtainenergybyoxidizingorganiccompoundsormolecular
[2]
hydrogen(H2)whilereducingsulfate(SO2
4 )tohydrogensulfide(H2S). Inasense,theseorganisms"breathe"sulfateratherthan
oxygeninaformofanaerobicrespiration.
Sulfatereducingbacteriacanbetracedbackto3.5billionyearsagoandareconsideredtobeamongtheoldestformsof
microorganisms,havingcontributedtothesulfurcyclesoonafterlifeemergedonEarth.[3]
Manybacteriareducesmallamountsofsulfatesinordertosynthesizesulfurcontainingcellcomponentsthisisknownas
assimilatorysulfatereduction.Bycontrast,thesulfatereducingbacteriaconsideredherereducesulfateinlargeamountstoobtain
energyandexpeltheresultingsulfideaswastethisisknownasdissimilatorysulfatereduction.Theyusesulfateastheterminal
electronacceptoroftheirelectrontransportchain.[4]Mostofthemareanaerobeshoweverthereareexamplesofsulfatereducing
bacteriathataretolerantofoxygen.[5]Underoxygenatedconditionsthesebacteriaswitchtoaerobicrespirationbeforereducing
sulfate[1]

Desulfovibriovulgarisisthebest
studiedsulfatereducingbacteria
speciesthebarintheupperrightis
0.5micrometrelong.

Mostsulfatereducingbacteriacanalsoreduceotheroxidizedinorganicsulfurcompounds,suchassulfite,thiosulfate,orelemental
sulfur(whichisreducedtohydrogensulfide).
Inaddition,therearesulfatereducingbacteriathatcanreducefumarate,nitrateandnitrite,iron(Fe(III))andsomeothermetals,dimethylsulfoxideandevenoxygen.[1]

Contents
1
2
3
4
5
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7

Ecologicalimportanceandmarkers
Uses
Problemscausedbysulfatereducingbacteria
Biochemistry
Phylogeny
Seealso
References

Ecologicalimportanceandmarkers
Sulfateoccurswidelyinseawater,sediment,orwaterrichindecayingorganicmaterial.Sulfatereducingbacteriaarecommoninanaerobicenvironmentswheretheyaidin
thedegradationoforganicmaterials.[6]Intheseanaerobicenvironments,fermentingbacteriaextractenergyfromlargeorganicmoleculestheresultingsmallercompounds
suchasorganicacidsandalcoholsarefurtheroxidizedbyacetogensandmethanogensandthecompetingsulfatereducingbacteria.[4]
Thetoxichydrogensulfideisawasteproductofsulfatereducingbacteriaitsrotteneggodorisoftenamarkerforthepresenceofsulfate
reducingbacteriainnature.[6]Sulfatereducingbacteriaareresponsibleforthesulfurousodorsofsaltmarshesandmudflats.Muchofthe
hydrogensulfidewillreactwithmetalionsinthewatertoproducemetalsulfides.Thesemetalsulfides,suchasferroussulfide(FeS),are
insolubleandoftenblackorbrown,leadingtothedarkcolorofsludge.[2]
DuringthePermianTriassicextinctionevent(250millionyearsago)asevereanoxiceventseemstohaveoccurredwheretheseformsof
bacteriabecamethedominantforceinoceanicecosystems,producingcopiousamountsofhydrogensulfide.[7]

Uses
Somesulfatereducingbacteriacanreducehydrocarbonssuchasbenzene,toluene,ethylbenzene,andxylene,andhavebeenusedtoclean
upcontaminatedsoils.Theirusehasalsobeenproposedforotherkindsofcontaminations.[3]

Sludgefromapondtheblack
colorisduetometalsulfides
thatresultfromtheactionof
sulfatereducingbacteria.

Sulfatereducingbacteriaareconsideredasapossiblewaytodealwithacidminewatersthatareproducedbyotherbacteria.

Problemscausedbysulfatereducingbacteria
Inengineering,sulfatereducingbacteriacancreateproblemswhenmetalstructuresareexposedtosulfatecontainingwater:Interactionofwaterandmetalcreatesalayerof
molecularhydrogenonthemetalsurfacesulfatereducingbacteriathenoxidizethehydrogenwhilecreatinghydrogensulfide,whichcontributestocorrosion.
Hydrogensulfidefromsulfatereducingbacteriaalsoplaysaroleinthebiogenicsulfidecorrosionofconcrete.Italsooccursinsourcrudeoil.[3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfatereducing_bacteria

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SulfatereducingbacteriaWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Somesulfatereducingbacteriaplayaroleintheanaerobicoxidationofmethane:[3]
CH4+SO42HCO3+HS+H2O
Animportantfractionofthemethaneformedbymethanogensbelowtheseabedisoxidizedbysulfatereducingbacteriainthetransitionzoneseparatingthemethanogenesis
fromthesulfatereductionactivityinthesediments.Thisprocessisalsoconsideredamajorsinkforsulfateinmarinesediments.
Inhydraulicfracturingfluidsareusedtofrackshaleformationstorecovermethane(shalegas)andhydrocarbons,biocidecompoundsareoftenaddedtowatertoinhibitthe
microbialactivityofsulfatereducingbacteria,inordertobutnotlimitedto,avoidanaerobicmethaneoxidationandthegenerationofhydrogensulfide.Ultimatelyresulting
inminimizingpotentialproductionloss.

Biochemistry
Beforesulfatecanbeusedasanelectronacceptor,itmustbeactivated.ThisisdonebytheenzymeATPsulfurylase,whichusesATPandsulfatetocreateadenosine5'
phosphosulfate(APS).APSissubsequentlyreducedtosulfiteandAMP.Sulfiteisthenfurtherreducedtosulfide,whileAMPisturnedintoADPusinganothermoleculeof
ATP.Theoverallprocess,thus,involvesaninvestmentoftwomoleculesoftheenergycarrierATP,whichmusttoberegainedfromthereduction.[1]

Phylogeny
Thesulfatereducingbacteriahavebeentreatedasaphenotypicgroup,togetherwiththeothersulfurreducingbacteria,foridentificationpurposes.Theyarefoundinseveral
differentphylogeneticlines.[8]Asof2009,60generacontaining220speciesofsulfatereducingbacteriawereknown.[3]
AmongtheDeltaproteobacteriatheordersofsulfatereducingbacteriainclude:Desulfobacterales,DesulfovibrionalesandSyntrophobacterales.Thisaccountsforthelargest
groupofsulfatereducingbacteria,about23genera.[1]
ThesecondlargestgroupofsulfatereducingbacteriaisfoundamongtheFirmicutes,includingthegeneraDesulfotomaculum,Desulfosporomusa,andDesulfosporosinus.
IntheNitrospiraedivisionwefindsulfatereducingThermodesulfovibriospecies.
Twomoregroupsthatincludethermophilesulfatereducingbacteriaaregiventheirownphyla,theThermodesulfobacteriaandThermodesulfobium.
TherearealsothreegeneraofArchaeaknowntobecapableofsulfatereduction:Archaeoglobus,ThermocladiumandCaldivirga.Theyarefoundinhydrothermalvents,oil
deposits,andhotsprings.

Seealso
Microbialmetabolism
Anaerobicrespiration
Quinoneinteractingmembraneboundoxidoreductase

References
1.Muyzer,G.andStams,A.J.(June2008)."Theecologyandbiotechnologyofsulphatereducingbacteria"(PDF).NatureReviewsMicrobiology6:441454.doi:10.1038/nrmicro1892.
PMID18461075.
2.ErnstDetlefSchulze,HaroldA.Mooney(1993),Biodiversityandecosystemfunction,SpringerVerlag,pp.8890
3.Barton,LarryL.&Fauque,GuyD.(2009)."Biochemistry,PhysiologyandBiotechnologyofSulfateReducingBacteria".AdvancesinAppliedMicrobiology68:4198.
doi:10.1016/s00652164(09)012027.
4.LarryBarton(ed.)(1995),Sulfatereducingbacteria,Springer
5.KasperU.KjeldsenCatherineJoulian&KjeldIngvorsen(2004)."OxygenToleranceofSulfateReducingBacteriainActivatedSludge".EnvironmentalScienceandTechnology38(7):
20382043.doi:10.1021/es034777e.
6.DexterDyer,Betsey(2003).AFieldGuidetoBacteria.ComstockPublishingAssociates/CornellUniversityPress.
7.PeterD.Ward(October2006),"ImpactfromtheDeep",ScientificAmerican
8.PfennigN.andBiebelH.(1986),"Thedissimilatorysulfatereducingbacteria",inStarretal.,TheProkaryotes:ahandbookonhabitats,isolationandidentificationofbacteria,Springer

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