Green sulfur bacteria | |
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Green sulfur bacteria in a Winogradsky column | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Bacteria |
Phylum: | Chlorobi |
Class: | Chlorobia |
Order: | Chlorobiales |
Family: | Chlorobiaceae |
Genera | |
The green sulfur bacteria are a family of obligately anaerobic photoautotrophic bacteria. Most closely related to the distant Bacteroidetes, they are accordingly assigned their own phylum.[1]
Green sulfur bacteria are non-motile (except Chloroherpeton thalassium, which may glide)[1] and come in spheres, rods, and spirals.[citation needed] Photosynthesis is achieved using bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) c, d, or e, in addition to BChl a and chlorophyll a,[1] in chlorosomes attached to the membrane.[citation needed] They use sulfide ions, hydrogen or ferrous iron as an electron donor and the process is mediated by the type I reaction centre and Fenna-Matthews-Olson complex. Elemental sulfur deposited outside the cell may be further oxidized. By contrast, the photosynthesis in plants uses water as electron donor and produces oxygen.[1]
Chlorobium tepidum has emerged as a model organism for the group, and although only ten genomes have been sequenced, these are quite comprehensive of the family's biodiversity. Their 2-3 Mb genomes encode 1750-2800 genes, 1400-1500 of which are common to all strains. The apparent absence of two-component histidine-kinases and response regulators suggest limited phenotypic plasticity. Their small dependence on organic molecule transporters and transcription factors also indicate that these organisms are adapted to a narrow range of energy-limited conditions, an ecology shared with the simpler cyanobacteria, Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus[1]
A species of green sulfur bacteria has been found living near a black smoker off the coast of Mexico at a depth of 2,500 meters beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean. At this depth, the bacterium, designated GSB1, lives off the dim glow of the thermal vent since no sunlight can penetrate to that depth.[2]
Green sulfur bacteria appear in Lake Matano, Indonesia, at a depth of approximately 110–120 meters. The population may include the species, Chlorobium ferrooxidans.[3]
Contents |
See also
Notes, links and References
External links
- "The Family Chlorobiaceae". The Prokaryotes. http://141.150.157.117:8080/prokPUB/chaprender/jsp/showchap.jsp?chapnum=323. Retrieved July 5, 2005.
References
Footnotes
- ^ a b c d e D.A. Bryant & N.-U. Frigaard (November 2006). "Prokaryotic photosynthesis and phototrophy illuminated". Trends Microbiol. 14 (11): 488. doi:10.1016/j.tim.2006.09.001. PMID 16997562.
- ^ Beatty JT, Overmann J, Lince MT, Manske AK, Lang AS, Blankenship RE, Van Dover CL, Martinson TA, Plumley FG. (2005). "An obligately photosynthetic bacterial anaerobe from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent". Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 102 (26): 9306–10. doi:10.1073/pnas.0503674102. PMID 15967984.
- ^ Crowe, Sean; Jones, CarriAyne; Katsev, Sergei; et al., C; O'Neill, AH; Sturm, A; Canfield, DE; Haffner, GD et al. (2008). "Photoferrotrophs thrive in an Archean Ocean analogue". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105 (41): pp. 15938–43. 2008-10-14. doi:10.1073/pnas.0805313105. ISSN 0148-0227. PMID 18838679. PMC 2572968. http://www.pnas.org/content/105/41/15938.full. Retrieved 2009-06-30
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