Metallosphaera javensis sp. nov., a novel species of thermoacidophilic archaea, isolated from a volcanic area.

A novel thermoacidophilic archeaon, strain J1T (=DSM 112778T,=JCM 34702T), was isolated from a hot pool in a volcanic area of Java, Indonesia. Cells of the strain were irregular, motile cocci of 1.0-1.2 µm diameter. Aerobic, organoheterotrophic growth with casamino acids was observed at an optimum temperature of 70 °C in a range of 55-78 °C and at an optimum pH of 3 in a range of 1.5 to 5. Various organic compounds were utilized, including a greater variety of sugars than has been reported for growth of other species of the genus. Chemolithoautotrophic growth was observed with reduced sulphur compounds, including mineral sulphides. Ferric iron was reduced during anaerobic growth with elemental sulphur. Cellular lipids were calditoglycerocaldarchaeol and caldarchaeol with some derivates. The organism contained the respiratory quinone caldariellaquinone. On the basis of phylogenetic and chemotaxonomic comparison with its closest relatives, it was concluded that strain J1T represents a novel species, for which the name Metallosphaera javensis is proposed. Low DNA-DNA relatedness values (16S rRNA gene <98.4%, average nucleotide identity (ANI) <80.1%) distinguished J1T from other species of the genus Metallosphaera and the DNA G+C content of 47.3% is the highest among the known species of the genus.

Electrochemical Studies of Stainless Steel and Stainless Steel-TiO2 Composite in Reference to Molten Aluminum Alloy Using a Solid-State BaCO3 Electrolyte.

The influence of TiO2 addition on the high-temperature electrochemical characteristics of stainless-steel-based materials was investigated by means of differential potential measurement, electrochemical polarization and impedance spectroscopy. A new three-electrode approach was utilized which incorporated a liquid aluminum alloy AlSi7Mg0.3 as the reference electrode, barium carbonate BaCO3 as the solid-state electrolyte, and stainless steel or a stainless steel-TiO2 composite as the working electrode. The potential differences between the steel-based working electrodes and the liquid-aluminum-alloy reference electrode were measured for 85 h throughout the whole experiment, including the heating and cooling period. The experiments were performed at 850 °C. The determination of the high-temperature open circuit potential (ECorr) in reference to the liquid aluminum alloy was carried out via potentiodynamic polarization. The polarization-related changes in the impedance characteristics were evaluated by the correlation of impedance responses before and after the polarization. The addition of 40 vol% TiO2 resulted in a reduction in the potential of the steel-TiO2 composite and led to the formation of a more uniform electrode-electrolyte interface. The reaction products on the surface of the working electrodes were investigated by means of SEM/EDS and XRD. They consisted of mixed oxides within the Fe-O, Ba-Fe-O and Ba-Cr-O systems.

On the Enigma of Glutathione-Dependent Styrene Degradation in Gordonia rubripertincta CWB2.

Among bacteria, only a single styrene-specific degradation pathway has been reported so far. It comprises the activity of styrene monooxygenase, styrene oxide isomerase, and phenylacetaldehyde dehydrogenase, yielding phenylacetic acid as the central metabolite. The alternative route comprises ring-hydroxylating enzymes and yields vinyl catechol as central metabolite, which undergoes meta-cleavage. This was reported to be unspecific and also allows the degradation of benzene derivatives. However, some bacteria had been described to degrade styrene but do not employ one of those routes or only parts of them. Here, we describe a novel "hybrid" degradation pathway for styrene located on a plasmid of foreign origin. As putatively also unspecific, it allows metabolizing chemically analogous compounds (e.g., halogenated and/or alkylated styrene derivatives). Gordonia rubripertincta CWB2 was isolated with styrene as the sole source of carbon and energy. It employs an assembled route of the styrene side-chain degradation and isoprene degradation pathways that also funnels into phenylacetic acid as the central metabolite. Metabolites, enzyme activity, genome, transcriptome, and proteome data reinforce this observation and allow us to understand this biotechnologically relevant pathway, which can be used for the production of ibuprofen.IMPORTANCE The degradation of xenobiotics by bacteria is not only important for bioremediation but also because the involved enzymes are potential catalysts in biotechnological applications. This study reveals a novel degradation pathway for the hazardous organic compound styrene in Gordonia rubripertincta CWB2. This study provides an impressive illustration of horizontal gene transfer, which enables novel metabolic capabilities. This study presents glutathione-dependent styrene metabolization in an (actino-)bacterium. Further, the genomic background of the ability of strain CWB2 to produce ibuprofen is demonstrated.

Sphingopyxis fribergensis sp. nov., a soil bacterium with the ability to degrade styrene and phenylacetic acid.

Strain Kp5.2(T) is an aerobic, Gram-negative soil bacterium that was isolated in Freiberg, Saxony, Germany. The cells were motile and rod-shaped. Optimal growth was observed at 20-30 °C. The fatty acids of strain Kp5.2(T) comprised mainly C18 : 1ω7c and summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c/iso-C15 : 0 2-OH). The major respiratory quinone was Q-10. The major polar lipids of strain Kp5.2(T) were phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine and sphingoglycolipid. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 63.7%. Sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene of strain Kp5.2(T) allowed its classification into the family Sphingomonadaceae, and the sequence showed the highest similarity to those of members of the genus Sphingopyxis, with Sphingopyxis italica SC13E-S71(T) (99.15% similarity), Sphingopyxis panaciterrae Gsoil 124(T) (98.96%), Sphingopyxis chilensis S37(T) (98.90%) and Sphingopyxis bauzanensis BZ30(T) (98.51%) as the nearest neighbours. DNA-DNA hybridization and further characterization revealed that strain Kp5.2(T) can be considered to represent a novel species of the genus Sphingopyxis. Hence, the name Sphingopyxis fribergensis sp. nov. is proposed, with the type strain Kp5.2(T) ( = DSM 28731(T) = LMG 28478(T)).