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Amino acid-assimilating phototrophic heliobacteria from soda lake environments: Heliorestis acidaminivorans sp. nov. and ‘Candidatus Heliomonas lunata’

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Abstract

Two novel taxa of heliobacteria, Heliorestis acidaminivorans sp. nov. strain HR10BT and ‘Candidatus Heliomonas lunata’ strain SLH, were cultured from shoreline sediments/soil of Lake El Hamra (Egypt) and lake water/benthic sediments of Soap Lake (USA), respectively; both are highly alkaline soda lakes. Cells of strain HR10B were straight rods, while cells of strain SLH were curved rods. Both organisms were obligate anaerobes, produced bacteriochlorophyll g, and lacked intracytoplasmic photosynthetic membrane systems. Although the absorption spectrum of strain HR10B was typical of other heliobacteria, that of strain SLH showed unusually strong absorbance of the OH-chlorophyll a component. Major carotenoids of both organisms were OH-diaponeurosporene glucosyl esters, as in other alkaliphilic heliobacteria, and both displayed an alkaliphilic and mesophilic phenotype. Strain HR10B was remarkable among heliobacteria in its capacity to photoassimilate a number of carbon sources, including several amino acids. Nitrogenase activity was observed in strain HR10B, but not in strain SLH. The 16S ribosomal RNA gene tree placed strain HR10B within the genus Heliorestis, but distinct from other described species. By contrast, strain SLH was phylogenetically more closely related to neutrophilic heliobacteria and is the first alkaliphilic heliobacterium known outside of the genus Heliorestis.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by the US National Science Foundation Grants 0237576 and 0950550. We thank Dr. Holly Pinkart, Central Washington University, and Deborah O. Jung, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, for help in sampling at Soap Lake. We thank Steven J. Schmitt, SIU Micro-Imaging and Analysis Center, for electron microscopy, and Prof. Aharon Oren, Hebrew University Jerusalem, for nomenclatural advice.

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  1. Marie Asao

    Present address: Department of Microbiology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210-2420, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, 62901-6508, USA

    Marie Asao & Michael T. Madigan

  2. Department of Biology, Nippon Medical School, 297 Kosugi-cho 2, Nakahara, Kawasaki, 211-0063, Japan

    Shinichi Takaichi

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  1. Marie Asao
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  2. Shinichi Takaichi
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  3. Michael T. Madigan
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Correspondence to Michael T. Madigan.

Additional information

Communicated by F. Robb.

This paper is dedicated to the memory of Howard Gest, co-discoverer of the heliobacteria.

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Asao, M., Takaichi, S. & Madigan, M.T. Amino acid-assimilating phototrophic heliobacteria from soda lake environments: Heliorestis acidaminivorans sp. nov. and ‘Candidatus Heliomonas lunata’. Extremophiles 16, 585–595 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-012-0458-8

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