Prokaryotic Diversity

Madeline
Friday, November 6, 2015

Genus Chlorobium
The genus Chlorobium, phylum Chlorobi, contains gram-negative, quasi-
spherical bacteria. These bacteria are photolithoautotrophs, meaning they get their
energy from sunlight, their electrons from inorganic sources—especially H 2, H2S,
and other sulfur compounds with high oxidation potentials—and their carbon from
inorganic molecules such as CO2 in the air. They grow in large biofilms in
environments that are rich in sulfide, which they use as an electron donor, and
slightly acidic. They prefer warm environments such as hot springs that remain at
temperatures between forty and fifty degrees Celsius. They also prefer
environments that are bathed in unobstructed sunlight, which they use for energy.
Bacteria in this genus replicate by binary fission. They produce elemental sulfur as a
waste product and excrete it into the environment. This is notable because many
other sulfur-producing bacteria, such as in the genuses Chromatium and Thiothrix,
keep the sulfur granules inside themselves. These bacteria also contain relatively
large and complex membrane systems in order to efficiently capture and absorb
blue and near-infra red light. These systems are composed of several different
photopigments, however, Bchl c is the most abundant. Due to the light waves
absorbed by these pigments, Chlorobium appear brownish green.

Genus Epulopiscium
The genus Epulopiscium, phylum Firmicutes, order Clostridiales, contains
gram-positive, rod-shaped bacteria. These bacteria are chemoorganoheterotrophs,
meaning they get their energy from something other than sunlight—in this case
glucose—their electrons from organic materials, and their carbon from organic
molecules into which it has already been integrated. They are obligate enteric
anaerobes that have symbiotic relationships with the animals in whose digestive
tracts they reside. In fact, they cannot be cultured effectively outside their hosts.
Bacteria in this genus replicate in a cycle resembling live birth. They do not undergo
binary fission at all, but instead begins dividing at each pole. This results in two to
seven daughter cells that grow inside the mother cell until they reach near-full size.
At this point, the mother cell disintegrates and the daughter cells emerge. They do
not code any virulence factors, and their enzymatic secretions help regulate the pH
of their hosts’ guts. They can also be distinguished from other bacteria by their
uncharacteristically large size; they can be seen by the naked eye.

Genus Methanosaeta
The genus Methanosaeta, phylum Euryarchaeota, contains gram-negative,
rod-shaped archaea. These archaea are chemolithoautotrophs, meaning they get
their energy from something other than sunlight—in this case acetate—their
electrons from inorganic compounds, and their carbon from inorganic molecules.
They require acetate to live and grow, but since they have a very high acetate
affinity, they may live in very diverse environments, even if acetate concentrations
are low. They are found in high quantities in environments with high acetate
concentrations, most commonly rice paddies. They are also found to live in
conjunction with anaerobic bacteria that produce acetate as a product of
fermentation. The replication process of archaea in this genus is not well
understood, however, it is hypothesized to be unique from the rest of the
Euryarchaeotes. It involves the division of the inner cell preceding the rupture of the
archaeal sheath, a protective protein coat that surrounds the cell. These archaea are
particularly useful in the treatment of sewage. They grow in long, filamentous
biofilms composed of chains of cells that trap anaerobic bacteria, which digest the
remnants of raw sewage that cannot be broken down by aerobic bacteria. The
products of fermentation of these bacteria consist mostly of acetate, which is then
converted by the archaea into methane and CO2. These archaea also facilitate the
sinking of this mat of biomass to the bottom of the sewage liquid so that the liquid
can be drained. The residual mass of living organisms and muck is then used as
fertilizer.

Citations:
1. Boone, David, and George Garrity, eds. "Archaea and Deeply Branching
Bacteria." Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology 1 (2001): 290. Web.
2. "Chlorobium." MicrobeWiki. N.p., 26 July 2010. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.
3. "Epulopiscium fishelsoni." MicrobeWiki. N.p., 23 Feb 2012. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.
4. "Methanosaeta." MicrobeWiki. N.p., 11 May 2015. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.