Physiology and Nutrition of Treponema primitia, an H(2)/ CO(2)-Acetogenic Spirochete from Termite Hindguts

Treponema primitia strains ZAS-1 and ZAS-2, the first spirochetes to be isolated from termite hindguts (J. R. Leadbetter, T. M. Schmidt, J. R. Graber, and J. A. Breznak, Science 283:686-689, 1999), were examined for nutritional, physiological, and biochemical properties relevant to growth and survival in their natural habitat. In addition to using H(2) plus CO(2) as substrates, these strains were capable of homoacetogenic growth on mono- and disaccharides and (in the case of ZAS-2) methoxylated benzenoids. Cells were also capable of mixotrophic growth (i.e., simultaneous utilization of H(2) and organic substrates). Cell extracts of T. primitia possessed enzyme activities of the Wood/Ljungdahl (acetyl coenzyme A) pathway of acetogenesis, including tetrahydrofolate-dependent enzymes of the methyl group-forming branch. However, a folate compound was required in the medium for growth. ZAS-1 and ZAS-2 growing on H(2) plus CO(2) displayed H(2) thresholds of 650 and 490 ppmv, respectively. Anoxic cultures of ZAS-1 and ZAS-2 maintained growth after the addition of as much as 0.5% (vol/vol) O(2) to the headspace atmosphere. Cell extracts exhibited NADH and NADPH peroxidase and NADH oxidase activities but neither catalase nor superoxide dismutase activity. Results indicate that (i) T. primitia is able to exploit a variety of substrates derived from the food of its termite hosts and in so doing contributes to termite nutrition via acetogenesis, (ii) in situ growth of T. primitia is likely dependent on secretion of a folate compound(s) by other members of the gut microbiota, and (iii) cells possess enzymatic adaptations to oxidative stress, which is likely to be encountered in peripheral regions of the termite hindgut

Stenoxybacter acetivorans gen. nov., sp. nov., an Acetate-Oxidizing Obligate Microaerophile among Diverse O2-Consuming Bacteria from Termite Guts▿

In termite hindguts, fermentative production of acetate—a major carbon and energy source for the insect—depends on efficient removal of inwardly diffusing oxygen by microbes residing on and near the hindgut wall. However, little is known about the identity of these organisms or about the substrate(s) used to support their respiratory activity. A cultivation-based approach was used to isolate O2-consuming organisms from hindguts of Reticulitermes flavipes. A consistently greater (albeit not statistically significant) number of colonies developed under hypoxia (2% [vol/vol] O2) than under air, and the increase coincided with the appearance of morphologically distinct colonies of a novel, rod-shaped, obligately microaerophilic β-proteobacterium that was <95% similar (based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence) to its closest known relative (Eikenella corrodens). Nearly identical organisms (and/or their 16S rRNA genes) were obtained from geographically separated and genetically distinct populations of Reticulitermes. PCR-based procedures implied that the novel isolates were autochthonous to the hindgut of R. flavipes and comprised ca. 2 to 7% of the hindgut prokaryote community. Representative strain TAM-DN1 utilized acetate and a limited range of other organic and amino acids as energy sources and possessed catalase and superoxide dismutase. On solid medium, the optimal O2 concentration for growth was about 2%, and no growth occurred with O2 concentrations above 4% or under anoxia. However, cells in liquid medium could grow with higher O2 concentrations (up to 16%), but only after proportionately extended lag phases. The genetic and physiological distinctiveness of TAM-DN1 and related strains supports their recognition as a new genus and species, for which the name Stenoxybacter acetivorans gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed