Bacterial Degradation of Isoprene in the Terrestrial Environment

Isoprene is a climate active gas emitted from natural and anthropogenic sources in quantities equivalent to the global methane flux to the atmosphere. 90 % of the emitted isoprene is produced enzymatically in the chloroplast of terrestrial plants from dimethylallyl pyrophosphate via the methylerythritol pathway. The main role of isoprene emission by plants is to reduce the damage caused by heat stress through stabilizing cellular membranes. Isoprene emission from microbes, animals, and humans has also been reported, albeit less understood than isoprene emission from plants. Despite large emissions, isoprene is present at low concentrations in the atmosphere due to its rapid reactions with other atmospheric components, such as hydroxyl radicals. Isoprene can extend the lifetime of potent greenhouse gases, influence the tropospheric concentrations of ozone, and induce the formation of secondary organic aerosols. While substantial knowledge exists about isoprene production and atmospheric chemistry, our knowledge of isoprene sinks is limited. Soils consume isoprene at a high rate and contain numerous isoprene-utilizing bacteria. However, Rhodococcus sp. AD45 is the only terrestrial isoprene-degrading bacterium characterized in any detail. A pathway for isoprene degradation involving a putative soluble monooxygenase has been proposed. In this study, we report the isolation of two novel isoprene-degrading bacteria and characterization of the isoprene gene clusters in their draft genomes. Using marker exchange mutagenesis, transcription assays and proteomics analyses, we provide conclusive evidence that isoprene is metabolized in Rhodococcus sp. AD45 through the induced activity of soluble isoprene monooxygenase, a close relative to well known soluble diiron center monooxygenase enzymes. Metabolic gene PCR assays based on a key component of isoprene monooxygenase were also developed to detect isoprene degraders in the environment. The diversity of active isoprene degraders in the terrestrial environment was investigated using DNA-stable isotope probing experiments combined with 454 pyrosequencing

Regulation of plasmid-encoded isoprene metabolism in Rhodococcus, a representative of an important link in the global isoprene cycle

Emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) form an important part of the global carbon cycle, comprising a significant proportion of net ecosystem productivity. They impact atmospheric chemistry and contribute directly and indirectly to greenhouse gases. Isoprene, emitted largely from plants, comprises one third of total VOCs, yet in contrast to methane, which is released in similar quantities, we know little of its biodegradation. Here, we report the genome of an isoprene degrading isolate, Rhodococcus sp. AD45, and, using mutagenesis shows that a plasmid-encoded soluble di-iron centre isoprene monooxygenase (IsoMO) is essential for isoprene metabolism. Using RNA sequencing (RNAseq) to analyse cells exposed to isoprene or epoxyisoprene in a substrate-switch time-course experiment, we show that transcripts from 22 contiguous genes, including those encoding IsoMO, were highly upregulated, becoming among the most abundant in the cell and comprising over 25% of the entire transcriptome. Analysis of gene transcription in the wild type and an IsoMO-disrupted mutant strain showed that epoxyisoprene, or a subsequent product of isoprene metabolism, rather than isoprene itself, was the inducing molecule. We provide a foundation of molecular data for future research on the environmental biological consumption of this important, climate-active compound

К проблеме социальной эффективности инноваций в профессиональном образовании

Movile Cave, Romania, is an unusual underground ecosystem that has been sealed off from the outside world for several million years and is sustained by non-phototrophic carbon fixation. Methane and sulfur-oxidising bacteria are the main primary producers, supporting a complex food web that includes bacteria, fungi and cave-adapted invertebrates. A range of methylotrophic bacteria in Movile Cave grow on one-carbon compounds including methylated amines, which are produced via decomposition of organic-rich microbial mats. The role of methylated amines as a carbon and nitrogen source for bacteria in Movile Cave was investigated using a combination of cultivation studies and DNA stable isotope probing (DNA-SIP) using 13C-monomethylamine (MMA). Two newly developed primer sets targeting the gene for gamma-glutamylmethylamide synthetase (gmaS), the first enzyme of the recently-discovered indirect MMA-oxidation pathway, were applied in functional gene probing. SIP experiments revealed that the obligate methylotroph Methylotenera mobilis is one of the dominant MMA utilisers in the cave. DNA-SIP experiments also showed that a new facultative methylotroph isolated in this study, Catellibacterium sp. LW-1 is probably one of the most active MMA utilisers in Movile Cave. Methylated amines were also used as a nitrogen source by a wide range of non-methylotrophic bacteria in Movile Cave. PCR-based screening of bacterial isolates suggested that the indirect MMA-oxidation pathway involving GMA and N-methylglutamate is widespread among both methylotrophic and non-methylotrophic MMA utilisers from the cave