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PubMed2026

Low-pH sulfate reduction in acid mine drainage treatment systems: implications for acidophilic and acid-tolerant sulfate-reducing bacteria - a systematic review.

Acid mine drainage (AMD) is characterized by persistent acidity, high sulfate and dissolved metal concentrations. Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) are attractive candidates for AMD remediation because dissimilatory sulfate reduction generates alkalinity while producing sulfide that can facilitate metal removal through precipitation. Extending these processes to acidic conditions has increased interest in acidophilic and acid-tolerant SRB (aSRB and atSRB), yet evidence from cultivation, molecular surveys and treatment systems has often been interpreted separately. This systematic review synthesized 53 culture-dependent, culture-independent, and treatment system studies from 2014 to 2024 to examine relationships among taxonomic occurrence, physiological capability, demonstrated low-pH sulfate reduction and treatment performance. Phylogenetic analysis showed that low-pH sulfate-reducing phenotypes were distributed across multiple lineages and 16S rRNA relatedness alone did not predict acid tolerance. Desulfosporosinus was the most consistently represented genus across studies, although its recurrence was influenced by cultivation strategies. Sulfate reduction was demonstrated below pH 3, with sustained low-pH activity most strongly supported by controlled reactor studies; approximately pH 4.0-5.5 emerged as a comparatively well-supported range, while activity at lower pH was more dependent on microbial physiology and experimental conditions. Low-pH sulfate reduction also emerged as a community-level process shaped by electron-donor use, metabolite turnover and complementary microbial functions, while treatment performance additionally depended on biomass retention, hydraulic conditions and sulfide management. The reviewed studies support a distinction between taxonomic presence, demonstrated activity and treatment contribution. Future work should prioritize standardized reporting of active sulfate-reduction conditions, stronger taxon-function validation and long-term field testing of low-pH sulfidogenic systems.

Sulfates↗
PubMed2026

Symbiosis reshapes metabolism of sulfate-reducing bacteria in gutless marine worms.

Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) are widespread in marine and terrestrial environments, where they often form syntrophic associations with bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes. Among the most intimate of these are multipartite symbioses in gutless marine oligochaete worms, which host SRB and sulfur-oxidizing endosymbionts that engage in a syntrophic exchange of sulfur compounds. Despite decades of research on free-living SRB, the metabolic traits that enable SRB to persist in symbiosis, and how these differ across hosts and environments, remain poorly understood. We show that a globally distributed clade of symbiotic SRB, which we named Candidatus Desulfoconcordia, has a conserved core metabolism that diverges from free-living relatives. Using comparative genomics and metaproteomics, we reveal that these endosymbionts retain key traits of SRB such as sulfate reduction, complete oxidation of acetate to CO2, amino acid degradation for nitrogen acquisition, and transport of essential nutrients. However, they exhibit a more oxygen-tolerant metabolism and lack typical nutrient-scavenging mechanisms of free-living SRB. One trait, the glyoxylate bypass, was consistently expressed in situ and may serve both in reactive oxygen species defence and in biomass generation. The expression of oxygen-tolerant pathways, coupled with the loss of nutrient-scavenging functions, indicate specialization to a host-associated, redox-fluctuating environment distinct from that of free-living SRB. The symbiont genomes are also larger than those of free-living relatives, contrasting with genome reduction in many endosymbionts and reinforcing the importance of metabolic versatility. Our findings provide a framework for understanding how metabolic flexibility enables SRB to persist in long-term multipartite symbioses across diverse marine ecosystems.

Symbiosis↗
PubMed1992

Molecular and microscopic identification of sulfate-reducing bacteria in multispecies biofilms.

The population architecture of sulfidogenic biofilms established in anaerobic fixed-bed bioreactors was characterized by selective polymerase chain reaction amplification and fluorescence microscopy. A region of the 16S rRNA common to resident sulfate-reducing bacteria was selectively amplified by the polymerase chain reaction. Sequences of amplification products, with reference to a collection of 16S rRNA sequences representing most characterized sulfate-reducing bacteria, were used to design both general and specific hybridization probes. Fluorescent versions of these probes were used in combination with fluorescence microscopy to visualize specific sulfate-reducing bacterial populations within developing and established biofilms.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1978

Dimethyl sulfoxide as an electron acceptor for anaerobic growth.

The isolation from lake mud of a bacterium which can use dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as an electron acceptor for growth is described. The isolate, called strain DL-1, was a small, gram negative, non-motile spiral. The sole product of DMSO reduction was dimethyl sulfide (DMS). Other electron acceptors used by the isolate included sulfite, thiosulfate, elemental sulfur, methionine sulfoxide, tetramethylene sulfoxide, nitrate, and oxygen (microaerophilically). Sulfate was not reduced and could not even be assimilated. Lactate or succinate could serve as electron donors, with acetate as the main product. Hydrogen could be used as an electron donor if acetate was present in the medium as a carbon source. The organism has a c-type cytochrome, and most likely uses electron transport phosphorylation during DMSO reduction. Cultures of Desulfovibrio sp., Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Proteus vulgaris were tested for growth using DMSO as an electron acceptor, and only the Proteus strain grew. Both Proteus and strain DL-1 are versatile at coupling reductions with energy generation. There is a marked resemblance between strain DL-1 and the recently described sulfur-reducing spirillum of Wolfe and Pfennig.

Bacteria↗
PubMed1975

The amino acid sequence of ferredoxin II from Chlorobium limicola, a photosynthetic green bacterium.

The amino acid sequence of ferredoxin II from the photosynthetic green sulfur-reducing bacterium, Chlorobium limicola, was deduced to be: Ala-His-Arg-Ile-Thr-Glu-Glu-Cys-Thr-Tyr-Cys-Ala-Ala-Cys-Glu-Pro-Glu-Cys-Pro-Val-Asn-Ala-Ile-Ser-Ala-Gly-Asp-Glu-Ile-Tyr-Ile-Val-Asp-Glu-Ser-Val-Cys-Thr-Asp-Cys-Glu-Gly-Tyr-Tyr-Asp-Glu-Pro-Ala-Cys-Val-Ala-Val-Cys-Pro-Val-Asp-Cys-Ile-Ile-Lys-Val. The ferredoxin was shown to consist of 61 amino acids in a single polypeptide chain. The presence of 8 g-atoms of Fe and 8 mol of sulfide led to a calculated molecular weight of 7289. In constract to the ferredoxin I from C. limicola, ferredoxin II contains basic amino acids in positions 2 and 3 and 60 from the NH(2)-terminal end of the protein. The sequences of all the various ferredoxins from photosynthetic bacteria reported to date are compared with one another.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1976

Desulfuromonas acetoxidans gen. nov. and sp. nov., a new anaerobic, sulfur-reducing, acetate-oxidizing bacterium.

Anaerobic sea or fresh water media with acetate and elemental sulfur yielded enrichments of a new type of strictly anaerobic, rod-shaped, laterally flagellated, Gram-negative bacterium. Three pure culture-strains from different sulfide-containing sea water sources were characterized in detail and are described as a new genus and species Desulfuromonas acetoxidans. The new bacterium is unable to ferment organic substances; it obtains energy for growth by anaerobic sulfur respiration. Acetate, ethanol or propanol can serve as carbon and energy source for growth; their oxidation to CO2 is stoichiometrically linked to the reduction of elemental sulfur to sulfide. Organic disulfide compounds, malate or fumarate are the only other electron acceptors used. Butanol and pyruvate are used in the presence of malate only; no other organic compounds are utilized. Biotin is required as a growth factor. The following dry weight yields per mole of substrate are obtained: in the presence of sulfur: 4.21 g on acetate, 9.77 g on ethanol; in the presence of malate: 16.5 g on acetate, 34.2 g on ethanol and 46.2 g on pyruvate. Accumulations of cells are pink; cell suspensions exhibit absorption spectra resembling those of c-type cytochromes (abs. max. at 419, 523 and 553 nm). Malate-ethanol grown cells contain a b-type cytochrome in addition. In the presence of acetate, ethanol or propanol, Desulfuromonas strains form robust growing syntrophic mixed cultures with phototrophic green sulfur bacteria.

Acetates↗
PubMed1977

Cytochrome c-551.5 (c7) from Desulfuromonas acetoxidans.

Cytochrome c-551.5 of the anaerobic sulfur-reducing bacterium Desulfuromonas acetoxidans has been purified to homogeneity and characterized. It elicits absorption bands at 551.5, 522.5 and 418 nm in the reduced form; the absorptivity ratio Aalpha(red)/A280nm(ox) equals 3.8 for the pure preparation. The molecular weight was estimated to be 9800 by gel filtration. Determination of the amion acid composition and analysis of the N-terminal amino acid sequence showed the cytochrome to be identical with the threehaem cytochrome c-551.5 (c7) isolated from the syntrophic mixed culture Chloropseudomonas ethylica strain 2K. The occurrence of multihaem cytochromes c in bacteria is discussed.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1978

Isolation and characterization of a rubredoxin and an (8Fe-8S) ferredoxin from Desulfuromonas acetoxidans.

A two cluster (4Fe-4S) ferredoxin and a rubredoxin have been isolated from the sulfur-reducing bacterium Desulfuromonas acetoxidans. Their amino acid compositions are reported and compared to those of other iron-sulfur proteins. The ferredoxin contains 8 cysteine residues, 8 atoms of iron and 8 atoms of labile sulfur per molecule; its minimum molecular weight is 6163. The protein exhibits an abosrbance ratio of A385/A283 = 0.74. Storage results in a bleaching of the chromophore; the denatured ferredoxin is reconstitutable with iron and sulfide. The instability temperature is 52 degrees C. The rubredoxin does not differ markedly from rubredoxins from other anaerobic bacteria.

Amino Acids↗