''Dechloromonas agitata'' strain CKB is a

dissimilatory In phonology, particularly within historical linguistics, dissimilation is a phenomenon whereby similar consonants or vowels in a word become less similar. In English, dissimilation is particularly common with liquid consonants such as /r/ and / ...

perchlorate A perchlorate is a chemical compound containing the perchlorate ion, . The majority of perchlorates are commercially produced salts. They are mainly used as oxidizers for pyrotechnic devices and to control static electricity in food packaging. Per ...

reducing

bacterium Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...

(DRPB) that was isolated from paper mill waste. Strain CKB is a Gram negative,

facultative anaerobe A facultative anaerobic organism is an organism that makes ATP by aerobic respiration if oxygen is present, but is capable of switching to fermentation if oxygen is absent. Some examples of facultatively anaerobic bacteria are ''Staphylococcus' ...

belonging to the Betaproteobacteria. The cells of strain CKB are highly motile and possess a single polar

flagellum A flagellum (; ) is a hairlike appendage that protrudes from certain plant and animal sperm cells, and from a wide range of microorganisms to provide motility. Many protists with flagella are termed as flagellates. A microorganism may have f ...

. ''D. agitata'' can couple the

oxidation Redox (reduction–oxidation, , ) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of substrate change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is the gain of electrons or a d ...

of several electron donors such as

acetate An acetate is a salt (chemistry), salt formed by the combination of acetic acid with a base (e.g. Alkali metal, alkaline, Alkaline earth metal, earthy, Transition metal, metallic, nonmetallic or radical Radical (chemistry), base). "Acetate" als ...

, propionate,

butyrate The conjugate acids are in :Carboxylic acids. {{Commons category, Carboxylate ions, Carboxylate anions Carbon compounds Oxyanions ...

lactate Lactate may refer to: * Lactation, the secretion of milk from the mammary glands * Lactate, the conjugate base of lactic acid Lactic acid is an organic acid. It has a molecular formula . It is white in the solid state and it is miscible with ...

, succinate,

fumarate Fumaric acid is an organic compound with the formula HO2CCH=CHCO2H. A white solid, fumaric acid occurs widely in nature. It has a fruit-like taste and has been used as a food additive. Its E number is E297. The salts and esters are known as f ...

, malate or

yeast extract Yeast extracts consist of the cell contents of yeast without the cell walls; they are used as food additives or flavorings, or as nutrients for bacterial culture media. They are often used to create savory flavors and umami taste sensations, a ...

electron acceptors An oxidizing agent (also known as an oxidant, oxidizer, electron recipient, or electron acceptor) is a substance in a redox chemical reaction that gains or " accepts"/"receives" an electron from a (called the , , or ). In other words, an oxid ...

such as

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...

chlorate The chlorate anion has the formula ClO3-. In this case, the chlorine atom is in the +5 oxidation state. "Chlorate" can also refer to chemical compounds containing this anion; chlorates are the salts of chloric acid. "Chlorate", when followed by ...

ferrous iron In chemistry, iron(II) refers to the element iron in its +2 oxidation state. In ionic compounds (salts), such an atom may occur as a separate cation (positive ion) denoted by Fe2+. The adjective ferrous or the prefix ferro- is often used to spe ...

sulphide Sulfide (British English also sulphide) is an inorganic anion of sulfur with the chemical formula S2− or a compound containing one or more S2− ions. Solutions of sulfide salts are corrosive. ''Sulfide'' also refers to chemical compounds la ...

, and reduced humic substances like 2,6-anthrahydroquinone disulphonate. Unlike other perchlorate reducers, strain CKB cannot grow by nitrate reduction, which suggests that the pathways of nitrate and perchlorate reduction are distinct and unrelated, contrary to what previous research had shown.

Biological perchlorate reduction by strain CKB

Strain CKB can reduce chlorate and perchlorate (collectively known as (per)chlorate) completely to

chloride The chloride ion is the anion (negatively charged ion) Cl−. It is formed when the element chlorine (a halogen) gains an electron or when a compound such as hydrogen chloride is dissolved in water or other polar solvents. Chloride salts ...

. The first step of the pathway involves the reduction of (per)chlorate to

chlorite The chlorite ion, or chlorine dioxide anion, is the halite with the chemical formula of . A chlorite (compound) is a compound that contains this group, with chlorine in the oxidation state of +3. Chlorites are also known as salts of chlorous ac ...

via the

perchlorate reductase Perchlorate reductase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reactions: :ClO4− + 2 AH2 \rightleftharpoons ClO2− + 2 A + 2 H2O and :ClO3− + AH2 \rightleftharpoons ClO2− + A + H2O Thus, the substrates of this enzyme are a reduced el ...

(Pcr)

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products. A ...

. Chlorite is then dismutated to molecular oxygen and chloride by the

chlorite dismutase Chlorite dismutase, also known as Chlorite O2-lyase (), is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction : ClO → Cl− + O2 Reactions that generate oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It ...

(Cld) enzyme. The produced oxygen can then be reduced to water by action of the enzyme cytochrome oxidase. The Cld enzyme, encoded by an 834 bp

gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...

, is 277 amino acids long and includes a 26 amino acid leader peptide. Though expressed at basal levels under aerobic conditions, the cld gene was

transcription Transcription refers to the process of converting sounds (voice, music etc.) into letters or musical notes, or producing a copy of something in another medium, including: Genetics * Transcription (biology), the copying of DNA into RNA, the fir ...

ally upregulated when strain CKB cells were grown in (per)chlorate. The Cld enzyme is of particular interest not only because it protects cells from toxic chlorite, but also because it is one of only a handful of systems capable of producing molecular oxygen.

References

* *

External links

Type strain of ''Dechloromonas agitata'' at Bac''Dive'' - the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase
Rhodocyclaceae {{Betaproteobacteria-stub