Table Of ContentGeneral and
Applied Aspects of
Halophilic
Microorganisms
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Series A: Life Sciences
General and
Applied Aspects of
Halophilic
M icroorgan isms
Edited by
Francisco Rodriguez-Valera
University of Alicante
Alicante, Spain
Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
Proceedings of a FEMS-NATO Advanced Research Workshop on
General and Applied Aspects of Halophilic Microorganisms,
held September 17-22,1989,
in Alicante, Spain
Llbrary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publlcation Data
FEMS-NATO Advanced Research Workshop on General and Applied Aspects of
Halophi IIC Microorganisms (1989 Al icante, Spain)
General and appl ied aspects of halophi 1 ic microorganlsms I edited
by Franclsco Rodriguez-Valera.
p. cm. -- (NATO ASI series. Series A, Life SClences ; v.
2011
"Proceedings of a FEMS-NATO AdvancJd Research Workshop on General
and Applled Aspects of Halophilic Mlcrooganisms, held September
17-22, 1989, in Alicante, Spain"--T.p. verso.
"Published in cooperat ion .ith NATO Scientific Affa,rs Division."
Includes blbliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4613-6660-7 ISBN 978-1-4615-3730-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4615-3730-4
1. Halophilic microorganisms--Congresses. 1. Rodriguez-Valera,
Franc1scc. II. Federatian of European Microbiclog1cal Soc1et18S.
III. North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Scientific Affairs
Division. IV. Title. V. Series.
[DNLM, 1. Halobacterium--congresses. 2. Water Microbiology-
-congresses. OW 80 F329g 1989]
OR97.S3F46 1989
576--dc20
DNLM/DLC
for Library of Congress 91-3015
CIP
© 1991 Springer Science+Business Media New York
Originally published by Plenum Press in 1991
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1 st edition 1991
AII rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming,
recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher
PREFACE
During recent years the subject of extreme environments and extremophiles
has become a central topic in modern Biology. The capability of some microorganisms
to withstand, and often prefer, the harsh conditions found in such environments is
helping to define the physicho-chemicallimits of life and in consequence its essential
nature. Halophiles are one of the most representative types of extremophiles, requiring
high concentrations of inorganic salts, mostly sodium chloride, to grow and survive.
They inhabit hypersaline environments, the distribution and abundance of which
dur ing geological eras are attested by the vast amounts of evaporite rocks present in
the Earth crust and by their role in the generation of petroleum deposits. The
corditions of high osmolarity and ionic strength that are concomitant with concentrated
salt solutions challenge the stability of lipid bilayers and the structure of proteins
forcing halophilic microbes to develop specialized molecules and physiological
me;;hanisms to cope with this environmental stress. Even so, halophilism is a
widespread trait in the microbial world. All the major groups of eucaryotic microbes,
two groups of archaeobacteria and most phylogenetic branches of eubacteria have
halophilic representatives. Therefore, the study of halophilic microorganisms is indeed
a highly heterogeneous and extense topic.
The present volume contains the contributions to the FEMS-NATO Advanced
Research Workshop on "General and Applied Aspects of Halophilic Microorganisms"
held at Alicante, Spain, September 17-22, 1989. At this meeting 46 invited speakers
and 51 other participants presented their latest results through lectures and posters
dealing with this diverse subject. I think we succeeded in getting a remarkably
comprehensive view of the state of the art in the field. Obviously there were some
areas that had to be treated shallowly, for example, the biophysics of the halobacterial
retinal proteins, which has become a vast and highly specialized field with regular and
frequent meetings dedicated specifically to it. On the other hand the spectacular
ad vances in the field of haloadaptation and the molecular biology of halo bacteria
(Sessions 2 and 4) have been widely covered. The rapid progress in these areas make
them particularly appropiate for revision in a meeting such as this.
As editor of the book I have to thank the authors for their contributions, the
extremely high standard of which made my job very simple. I am very grateful to both
NATO and the Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS) for their
sponsorship. Without the joint support from both parties this meeting could not have
been held. Other organizations made substantial contributions to financing the meeting,
v
particularly the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science and the Valencian
Government (Generalitat). All the staff and students of the Department of Molecular
Genetics and Microbiology, University of Alicante worked hard and long helping in
the organization of the meeting and I am very grateful to all of them. Finally a special
acknowledgment is required of the invaluable contribution made by Kathleen
Hernandez, the secretary of our Department, to both the organization of the meeting
and the typing and preparation of this book, thank you.
June 1990 F. Rodriguez-Valera
vi
CONTENTS
PART I
TAXONOMY, ECOLOGY AND PHYLOGENY
Halophily, Taxonomy, Phylogeny and Nomenclature ................. 3
Hans G. Triiper, Jiirg Snerin, Axel Wohlfarth,
Ewald Miiller and Erwin A. Galinski
The Microbiota of Saline Lakes of the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica ....... 9
P. D. Franzmann
Halophilic Organisms and the Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 15
Alberto Ramos-Cormenzana
Estimation of the Contribution of Archaebacteria and Eubacteria
to the Bacterial Biomass and Activity in Hypersaline
Ecosystems: Novel Approaches ............................. 25
Aharon Oren
Some Primary and Secondary Metabolites of Hypersaline Microbial
Mats and Associated Sediments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 33
B. J. Javor and J. Porta
Taxonomy of New Species of Moderately Halophilic Eubacteria ....... 45
Antonio Ventosa
Phenotypic Characterization of Halophilic Bacteria from Ground
Water Sources in the United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 53
Russell H. Vreeland and J. H. Huval
vii
PART II
PHYSIOLOGY
Halophiles of All Kinds: What are they up to now, and Where do
they come from? ........................................ 63
Donn J. Kushner
Mechanism of Chloride Transport in Halophilic Archaebacteria ....... 73
Janos K. Lanyi
Processes of Adaptation of Different Cell-Lines of DUllaliella
to Widely Differing Salt Concentrations .................. . . .. 81
Margaret Ginzburg
Osmoregulation in Rhizobium meliloti: Control of Glycine
Betaine Biosynthesis and Catabolism ........................ 89
Daniel Le Rudulier and Jean-Alain Pocard
Is the Na +- Activated NADH-Quinone-Acceptor Oxidoreductase
in Marine Bacteria and Moderate Halophiles a Primary
Electrogenic Na+ Pump? .................................. 97
Robert A. MacLeod
Ionic Relations and Polyol Metabolism of Marine Fungi in
Relation to their Environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 107
D. H. Jennings
Salt Adaptation of Ectothiorhodospira 115
Johannes F. Imhoff, Toni Ditandy and Bernhard Thiemann
Lipoic Acid and Dihydrolipoamide Dehydrogenase in Halophilic
Archaeobacteria ....................................... 121
Michael J. Danson, David W. Hough, Nataraj Vettakkorumakankav
and Kenneth J. Stevenson
Nitrate Reduction in the Extremely Halophilic Bacteria ............ 129
Lawrence 1. Hochstein
Retinal-Opsin-Dependent Detection of Short-Wavelength
Ultraviolet Radiation (UV -B), and Endogenous Bias on
Direction of Flagellar Rotation in Tethered Halobacterium
halobium Cells ........................................ 139
Gottfried Wagner, Torsten Rothiirmel and Bernhard Traulich
viii
Steps in the Photosensory Signal Chair of Halobacterium halobium .... 149
Eilo Hildebrand and Angelika Schimz
Mode of Action of Halocins H4 and H6: Are they Effective against
the Adaptation to High Salt Environments? .................. 157
I. Meseguer, M. Torreblanca and F. Rodriguez-Valera
Bioenergetics of Halobacterium halobium and of H. marismoriui ...... 165
Ben-Zion Ginzburg
The response of Halophilic Bacteria to Heavy Metals .............. 173
Joaquin J. Nieto
Biochemical Characterization of Dihydrofolate Reductase of
Halobacterium volcanii .................................. 181
Tal Zusman and Moshe Mevarech
PART III
COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE
Polar Lipid Structure, Composition and Biosynthesis in Extremely
Halophilic Bacteria .................................... 191
M. Kates and N. Moldoveanu
Variations in the Lipid Composition of Aerobic, Halophilic
Archaeobacteria .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 199
B. J. Tindall, Birgit Amendt and Christiana Dahl
Bacterioruberins Reinforce reconstituted Halobacterium Lipid
Membranes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 207
Y. Nakatani, T. Lazrak, A. Milon, G. Wolff and G. Ourisson
The 'True' Intracellular Environment of Moderately Halophilic
Eubacteria ......................................... <.. 217
Margot Kogut
Effects of Salinity on Membrane Lipids and Membrane-Derived
Oligosaccharides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 225
Nicholas J. Russell and Rachel L. Adams
Physiology of Halomonas Elongata in Different NaCI Concentratio . . .. 233
R. H. Vreeland, S. L. Daigle, S. T. Fields. D. J. Hart and
E. L. Martin
IX
Do Periplasmic Oligosaccharides Provide a Role in the Osmotic
Adaptation of Gram-negative Bacteria? 243
Karen J. Miller
PART IV
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND GENETICS
The Ribosomal RNA Operons of Halophilic Archaebacteria ......... 251
Patrick P. Dennis
Bacterio-Opsin Gene Expression in Halobacterium halobium ......... 259
Mary C. Betlach and Richard F. Shand
The Kinetic of the Genetic Exchange Process in Halobacterium
vokanhmating ........................................ 265
nan Rosenshine and Moshe Mevarech
Physical Mapping and Gene Transfer Methods for Halobacterium
(Haloferax) volcanii .................................... 271
W. Ford Doolittle, Robert L. Charlebois, Leo C. Schalkwyk,
Wan L. Lam, R. Keith Conover, Dina Tsouluhas, Steven W. Cline,
Jason D. Hofman and Annalee Cohen
Gas Vacuole Genes in Halobacteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 277
Balakrishna PilIay, Ursula Rdest and Werner Goebel
Insertion Elements Affecting Gas Vacuole Gene Expression in
Halobacterium halobium ................................. 285
Felicitas Pfeifer, Mary Horne, Chrostoph Englert and
U1rike B1aseio
Genomic Organization Studies in Halobacteria Using Pulse
Field Gel Electrophoresis ................................ 295
J. P. Abad, C. Smith and R. Amils
Physical and Genetic Mapping of the Unstable Gas Vesicle
Plasmid in Halobacterium halobium NRC-I 305
Wai-Iap Ng and Shiladitya DasSarma
Enzymology and Genetics of an Alpha-like DNA Polymerase
from Halobacterium halobium ............................. 313
Irene Sorokine, Kamel Ben-Mahrez, Masashi Nakayama and
Masamichi Kohiyama
x
