Heterotrophic bacteria exhibit a wide range of rates of extracellular production and decay of hydrogen peroxide

© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Bond, R. J., Hansel, C. M., & Voelker, B. M. Heterotrophic bacteria exhibit a wide range of rates of extracellular production and decay of hydrogen peroxide. Frontiers in Marine Science, 7, (2020): 72, doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.00072.Bacteria have been implicated as both a source and sink of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), a reactive oxygen species which can both impact microbial growth and participate in the geochemical cycling of trace metals and carbon in natural waters. In this study, simultaneous H2O2 production and decay by twelve species of heterotrophic bacteria were evaluated in both batch and flow-through incubations. While wide species-to-species variability of cell-normalized H2O2 decay rate coefficients [2 × 10–8 to 5 × 10–6 hr–1 (cell mL–1)–1] was observed, these rate coefficients were relatively consistent for a given bacterial species. By contrast, observed production rates (below detection limit to 3 × 102 amol cell–1 hr–1) were more variable even for the same species. Variations based on incubation conditions in some bacterial strains suggest that external conditions may impact extracellular H2O2 levels either through increased extracellular production or leakage of intracellular H2O2. Comparison of H2O2 production rates to previously determined superoxide (O2–) production rates suggests that O2– and H2O2 production are not necessarily linked. Rates measured in this study indicate that bacteria could account for a majority of H2O2 decay observed in aqueous systems but likely only make a modest contribution to dark H2O2 production.This research was supported by NSF grant OCE-1131734/1246174 to BV and CH

Species-level variability in extracellular production rates of reactive oxygen species by diatoms

© The Author(s), 2016. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Frontiers in Chemistry 4 (2016): 5, doi:10.3389/fchem.2016.00005.Biological production and decay of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and superoxide (O−2) likely have significant effects on the cycling of trace metals and carbon in marine systems. In this study, extracellular production rates of H2O2 and O−2 were determined for five species of marine diatoms in the presence and absence of light. Production of both ROS was measured in parallel by suspending cells on filters and measuring the ROS downstream using chemiluminescence probes. In addition, the ability of these organisms to break down O−2 and H2O2 was examined by measuring recovery of O−2 and H2O2 added to the influent medium. O−2 production rates ranged from undetectable to 7.3 × 10−16 mol cell−1 h−1, while H2O2 production rates ranged from undetectable to 3.4 × 10−16 mol cell−1 h−1. Results suggest that extracellular ROS production occurs through a variety of pathways even amongst organisms of the same genus. Thalassiosira spp. produced more O−2 in light than dark, even when the organisms were killed, indicating that O−2 is produced via a passive photochemical process on the cell surface. The ratio of H2O2 to O−2 production rates was consistent with production of H2O2 solely through dismutation of O−2 for T. oceanica, while T. pseudonana made much more H2O2 than O−2. T. weissflogii only produced H2O2 when stressed or killed. P. tricornutum cells did not make cell-associated ROS, but did secrete H2O2-producing substances into the growth medium. In all organisms, recovery rates for killed cultures (94–100% H2O2; 10–80% O−2) were consistently higher than those for live cultures (65–95% H2O2; 10–50% O−2). While recovery rates for killed cultures in H2O2 indicate that nearly all H2O2 was degraded by active cell processes, O−2 decay appeared to occur via a combination of active and passive processes. Overall, this study shows that the rates and pathways for ROS production and decay vary greatly among diatom species, even between those that are closely related, and as a function of light conditions.This research was supported by NSF grant OCE-1131734/1246174 to BV and CH