Halorespiration
Halorespiration or dehalorespiration or organohalide respiration is the use of halogenated compounds as terminal electron acceptors in anaerobic respiration.[1][2][3] Halorespiration can play a part in microbial biodegradation. The most common substrates are chlorinated aliphatics (PCE, TCE), chlorinated phenols and chloroform. Dehalorespiring bacteria are highly diverse. This trait is found in some proteobacteria, chloroflexi (green nonsulfur bacteria), low G+C gram positive Clostridia.[4] and ultramicrobacteria.[5]
Process of Halorespiration
The process of halorespiration, or dehalorespiration, uses reductive dehalogenation to produce energy that can be used by the respiring microorganism to carry out its growth and metabolism.[6] Halogenated organic compounds are used as the terminal electron acceptor, which results in their dehalogenation.[6] Reductive dehalogenation is the process by which this occurs.[6] It involves the reduction of halogenated compounds by removing the halogen substituents, while simultaneously adding electrons to the compound.[7] Hydrogenolysis and vicinal reduction are the two known processes of this mechanism that have been identified.[7] In both processes, the removed halogen substituents are released as anions.[7] Reductive dehalogenation is catalyzed by reductive dehalogenases, which are membrane-associated enzymes.[6][8][3] A number of not only membrane-associated but also cytoplasmic hydrogenases, in some cases as part of the protein complexes, are predicted to play roles in the dehalorespiration process.[9] Most of these enzymes contain iron-sulfur (Fe-S) clusters, and a corrinoid cofactor at their active sites.[6] Although the exact mechanism is unknown, research suggests that these two components of the enzyme may be involved in the reduction.[6]
Substrates Used and Environmental Significance
Common substrates that are used as terminal electron acceptors in dehalorespiration are organochloride pesticides, aryl halides and alkyl solvents.[7] Many of these are persistent and toxic pollutants that can only be degraded anaerobically by dehalorespiration, either partially or completely.[6][7] Trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE) are two examples of such pollutants, and their degradation has been a focus of research.[6][7][10] PCE is an alkyl solvent that was previously used in dry cleaning, degreasing machinery and other applications.[6][7] It remains a common contaminant of groundwater.[6][7] Bacteria that are capable of completely degrading PCE to ethene, a nontoxic chemical, have been isolated.[10] They have been found to belong to the genus Dehalococcoides and to use H2 as their electron donor.[10] The process of dehalorespiration has been applied to in situ bioremediation of PCE and TCE in the past.[6][8] For example, enhanced reductive dechlorination has been used to treat contaminated groundwater by introducing electron donors and dehalorespiring bacteria into the contaminated site, to create conditions that stimulate bacterial growth and dehalorespiration.[8] In enhanced reductive dechlorination, the pollutants act as the electron acceptors and are completely reduced to ultimately produce ethene in a series of reactions.[8]
Uses in Bioremediation
An ecologically significant aspect of bacterial halorespiration is the reduction of tetrachloroethene (PCE) and Trichloroethene (TCE); anthropogenic pollutants with high neuro and hepatotoxicity.[11] Their presence as environmental pollutants arose from their common industrial use as metal-degreasing agents from the 1920s - 1970.[12] These xenobiotic compounds tend to form partially insoluble layers called dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs) at the bottom of groundwater aquifers, which solubilize in a slow, reservoir-like manner, making TCE and PCE among the most common groundwater pollutants.[13]
A commonly used strategy for the removal of TCE and PCE from groundwater is the use of bioremediation via enhanced reductive dechlorination (ERD).[14] ERD involves in-situ injections of dehalorespiring bacteria, among fermentable organic substrates serving as electron donors, while the two pollutants, TCE and PCE, act as the electron acceptors.[14] This facilitates the sequential dechlorination of PCE and TCE into noxious cis-dichloroethene (DCE) and Vinyl chloride (VC), which then suit as electron acceptors for the full dechlorination into innocuous ethene.[14]
A wide array of bacteria across different genera have the capacity to partially dechlorinate PCE and TCE into cis-DCE and VC.[14] One such example of this is the Magnetospirillum bacterium, strain MS-1, which can reduce PCE into cis-DCE under aerobic conditions.[15] However, these daughter substrates have higher toxicity profiles than their parent compounds.[14] As such, effective dechlorination of cis-DCE and VC into innocuous ethene is crucial for bioremediation of PCE and TCE-contaminated aquifers.[14] Currently, bacteria of the Dehalococcoides genera are the only known organisms that can fully dechlorinate PCE into ethene. This is due to their specific transmembrane reductive dehalogenases (RDases) that metabolize the chlorine atoms on the xenobiotic pollutants for cellular energy.[16] In particular, Dehalococcoides isolates VS and BAV1 encode Vinyl Chloride RDases, which metabolize VC into innocuous ethene, making them required species in ERD systems used in bioremediation of PCE and TCE.[16]
References
- Holliger, C.; Wohlfarth, G.; Diekert, G. (1998). "Reductive dechlorination in the energy metabolism of anaerobic bacteria" (PDF). FEMS Microbiology Reviews. 22 (5): 383. doi:10.1111/j.1574-6976.1998.tb00377.x.
- Jugder, Bat-Erdene; Ertan, Haluk; Bohl, Susanne; Lee, Matthew; Marquis, Christopher P.; Manefield, Michael (2016). "Organohalide Respiring Bacteria and Reductive Dehalogenases: Key Tools in Organohalide Bioremediation". Frontiers in Microbiology. 7: 249. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2016.00249. ISSN 1664-302X. PMC 4771760. PMID 26973626.
- Jugder, Bat-Erdene; Ertan, Haluk; Lee, Matthew; Manefield, Michael; Marquis, Christopher P. (2015-10-01). "Reductive Dehalogenases Come of Age in Biological Destruction of Organohalides". Trends in Biotechnology. 33 (10): 595–610. doi:10.1016/j.tibtech.2015.07.004. ISSN 0167-7799. PMID 26409778.
- Hiraishi, A. (2008). "Biodiversity of Dehalorespiring Bacteria with Special Emphasis on Polychlorinated Biphenyl/Dioxin Dechlorinators". Microbes and Environments. 23 (1): 1–12. doi:10.1264/jsme2.23.1. PMID 21558680.
- Duda, V. I.; Suzina, N. E.; Polivtseva, V. N.; Boronin, A. M. (2012). "Ultramicrobacteria: Formation of the concept and contribution of ultramicrobacteria to biology". Microbiology. 81 (4): 379–390. doi:10.1134/S0026261712040054.
- Futagami, Taiki; Goto, Masatoshi; Furukawa, Kensuke (2008-01-01). "Biochemical and genetic bases of dehalorespiration". The Chemical Record. 8 (1): 1–12. doi:10.1002/tcr.20134. ISSN 1528-0691. PMID 18302277.
- Mohn, W. W.; Tiedje, J. M. (September 1992). "Microbial reductive dehalogenation". Microbiological Reviews. 56 (3): 482–507. doi:10.1128/mmbr.56.3.482-507.1992. ISSN 0146-0749. PMC 372880. PMID 1406492.
- Scheutz, Charlotte; Durant, Neal d.; Dennis, Philip; Hansen, Maria Heisterberg; Jørgensen, Torben; Jakobsen, Rasmus; Cox, Evan e.; Bjerg, Poul L. (2008). "Concurrent Ethene Generation and Growth of Dehalococcoides Containing Vinyl Chloride Reductive Dehalogenase Genes During an Enhanced Reductive Dechlorination Field Demonstration". Environmental Science & Technology. 42 (24): 9302–9309. doi:10.1021/es800764t. PMID 19174908.
- Jugder, Bat-Erdene; Ertan, Haluk; Wong, Yie Kuan; Braidy, Nady; Manefield, Michael; Marquis, Christopher P.; Lee, Matthew (2016-08-10). "Genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic analyses of Dehalobacter UNSWDHB in response to chloroform". Environmental Microbiology Reports. 8 (5): 814–824. doi:10.1111/1758-2229.12444. ISSN 1758-2229. PMID 27452500.
- Maymó-Gatell, X.; Chien, Y.; Gossett, J. M.; Zinder, S. H. (1997-06-06). "Isolation of a bacterium that reductively dechlorinates tetrachloroethene to ethene". Science. 276 (5318): 1568–1571. doi:10.1126/science.276.5318.1568. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 9171062.
- Ruder, AM (September 2006). "Potential health effects of occupational chlorinated solvent exposure". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 1076: 207–227. doi:10.1196/annals.1371.050. PMID 17119204.
- Bakke, Berit; Stewart, Patricia A.; Waters, Martha A. (November 2007). "Uses of an Exposure to Trichloroethylene in U.S Industry: A Systematic Literature Review". Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene. 4 (5): 375–390. doi:10.1080/15459620701301763. PMID 17454505.
- Dugat-Bony, Eric (March 2012). "In situ TCE degradation mediated by complex dehalorespiring communities during biostimulation processes". Microbial Biotechnology. 5 (5): 642–653. doi:10.1111/j.1751-7915.2012.00339.x. PMC 3815876. PMID 22432919.
- Scheutz, Charlotte (November 2008). "Concurrent ethene generation and growth of Dehalococcoides containing vinyl chloride reductive dehalogenase genes during an enhanced reductive dechlorination field demonstration". Environmental Science & Technology. 42 (24): 9302–9309. doi:10.1021/es800764t. PMID 19174908.
- Sharma, Pramod K (March 1996). "Isolation and Characterization of a Facultatively Aerobic Bacterium That Reductively Dehalogenates Tetrachloroethene to cis-1,2-Dichloroethene". Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 62 (3): 761–765. doi:10.1128/aem.62.3.761-765.1996. PMC 1388792. PMID 16535267.
- Khoshnood, Behrang (August 2015). "Genome Closing and Transcription Kinetics for RDase Genes in Dehalococcoides and Their Prevalence in a Wastewater Treatment Plant". National University of Singapore Libraries – via Proquest.
Further reading
- Jugder, J. (2015). "Reductive dehalogenases come of age in biological destruction of organohalides". Trends in Microbiology. 33 (10): 595–610. doi:10.1016/j.tibtech.2015.07.004. PMID 26409778.
- Leys, D.; Adrian, L.; Smidt, H. (2013). "Organohalide respiration: microbes breathing chlorinated molecules". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 368 (1616): 20120316. doi:10.1098/rstb.2012.0316. ISSN 0962-8436. PMC 3638457. PMID 23479746.
- Futagami, Taiki; Goto, Masatoshi; Furukawa, Kensuke (2014). Genetic System of Organohalide-Respiring Bacteria. Biodegradative Bacteria. pp. 59–81. doi:10.1007/978-4-431-54520-0_4. ISBN 978-4-431-54519-4.
- Hug, L. A.; Maphosa, F.; Leys, D.; Loffler, F. E.; Smidt, H.; Edwards, E. A.; Adrian, L. (2013). "Overview of organohalide-respiring bacteria and a proposal for a classification system for reductive dehalogenases". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 368 (1616): 20120322. doi:10.1098/rstb.2012.0322. ISSN 0962-8436. PMC 3638463. PMID 23479752.
- Maphosa, Farai; de Vos, Willem M.; Smidt, Hauke (2010). "Exploiting the ecogenomics toolbox for environmental diagnostics of organohalide-respiring bacteria". Trends in Biotechnology. 28 (6): 308–316. doi:10.1016/j.tibtech.2010.03.005. ISSN 0167-7799. PMID 20434786.