Rhodovulum sulfidophilum
Rhodovulum sulfidophilum is a purple bacteria.[1] The cells are rod-shaped, 0.6 to 0.9 μ wide and 0.9 to 2.0 μ long, and motile by means of polar flagella. Cell division occurs by binary fission. Its pigments consist of bacteriochlorophyll a and of carotenoids, most probably of the spheroidene group. The new species needs 2.5% (w/v) sodium chloride for optimal growth. The bacteria has a high sulfide tolerance. Sulfide and thiosulfate are oxidized to sulfate without an intermediate accumulation of elemental sulfur. It can either grow photoautotrophically or photoheterotrophically.[2]
| Rhodovulum sulfidophilum | |
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| Species: | R. sulfidophilum |
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| Rhodovulum sulfidophilum Hiraishi and Ueda, 1994 | |
Genetic engineering to produce spider silk
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As of July 2020, a Japanese research team from RIKΞN reported that they succeeded in using a genetically-altered variant of R. sulfidophilum to produce spidroins, the main proteins in spider silk.[3][4]
References
- Hansen, ToA, and H. Veldkamp. "Rhodopseudomonas sulfidophila, nov. spec., a new species of the purple nonsulfur bacteria." Archiv für Mikrobiologie 92.1 (1973): 45-58.
- Imhoff, J. F.; Kramer, M.; Trüper, H. G. (1983). "Sulfate assimilation in Rhodopseudomonas sulfidophila". Archives of Microbiology. 136 (2): 96–101. doi:10.1007/BF00404780. ISSN 0302-8933. S2CID 9491589.
- "Spider silk made by photosynthetic bacteria". phys.org. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
- Foong, Choon Pin; Higuchi-Takeuchi, Mieko; Malay, Ali D.; Oktaviani, Nur Alia; Thagun, Chonprakun; Numata, Keiji (2020-07-08). "A marine photosynthetic microbial cell factory as a platform for spider silk production". Communications Biology. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. 3 (1): 357. doi:10.1038/s42003-020-1099-6. ISSN 2399-3642. PMC 7343832. PMID 32641733.
Further reading
- DNA hybridisation: de Bont JA, Scholten A, Hansen TA (January 1981). "Dna-Dna hybridization of Rhodopseudomonas capsulata, Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides and Rhodopseudomonas sulfidophila strains". Archives of Microbiology. 128 (3): 271–4. doi:10.1007/BF00422528. PMID 6971081. S2CID 19309759.
- Ormerod, J. G. (1983). The Phototrophic bacteria: anaerobic life in the light. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-05092-4.
- Falkow, Stanley; Dworkin, Martin (2006). The prokaryotes: a handbook on the biology of bacteria. Berlin: Springer. ISBN 0-387-25495-1.
- Nitrogenase activity: Kelley, Bruce C.; Jouanneau, Yves; Vignais, Paulette M. (1979). "Nitrogenase activity in Rhodopseudomonas sulfidophila". Archives of Microbiology. 122 (2): 145–152. doi:10.1007/BF00411353. ISSN 0302-8933. S2CID 32515373.