Imiejen Althea M.

Pineda General Biology

Grade 12 (STEM) – Integrity Science Article
Title: Turning Poison into Food

Summary: They obtain their cellular energy by producing methane and receive sulfur for growth
in form of sulfide, that is present in their environments. While sulfide is a poison for most
organisms, it is essential for methanogens and they can tolerate even high concentrations of it.
However, their Achilles' heel is the toxic and reactive sulfur compound sulfite, which destroys
the enzyme needed to make methane. In their environments, both investigated organisms are
occasionally exposed to sulfite, for example, when oxygen enters and reacts with the reduced
sulfide. Its partial oxidation results in the formation of sulfite, and thus the methanogens need to
protect themselves. Marion Jespersen and Tristan Wagner from the Max Planck Institute for
Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany, together with Antonio Pierik from the University of
Kaiserslautern, now provide a snapshot of the enzyme detoxifying the sulfite. This butterfly-
shaped enzyme is known as the F420-dependent sulfite reductase or FSR. It can turn sulfite into
sulfide -- a safe source of sulfur that the methanogens require for growth.
In the current study, Jespersen and her colleagues describe how the enzyme works. The enzyme
traps the sulfite and directly reduces it to sulfide, which can be incorporated, for example, into
amino acids. As a result, the methanogen does not get poisoned and even uses the product as its
sulfur source. The enzyme, the FSR, is probably a snapshot of this ancient primordial enzyme, an
exciting look back in evolution.
Methanogens that can grow only on sulfite circumvent the need to use the dangerous sulfide,
their usual sulfur substrate. An optimal solution would be to find a methanogen that reduces
sulfate, which is cheap, abundant, and a completely safe sulfur source, says Wagner. The
researchers hypothesized that FSR orchestrates the last reaction of this sulfate reduction
pathway, because one of its intermediates would be sulfite. The next challenge is to understand
how it can transform sulfate to sulfite, to get a complete picture of the capabilities of these
miracle microbes.

Reflection: Given that poison may be converted into food and that it may be a viable remedy for
food poverty in some nations, this finding has enormous potential. I was astounded by this study
since the organisms produced methane to gain cellular energy and used the sulfide present in
their habitats to receive sulfur for growth. Sulfide is poisonous to most creatures, but
methanogens need it to survive, and they can withstand even large doses.

Reference: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/01/230119112742.htm
Author: Marion Jespersen, Antonio J. Pierik, Tristan Wagner
Imiejen Althea M. Pineda General Biology
Grade 12 (STEM) – Integrity Science Article

Title: New study decodes one of the living world's fastest cell movements

Summary: Heliozoan axopodia are important for their motility. However, the underlying
mechanism of their axopodia contraction has remained ambiguous. Recently, researchers have
reported that microtubules are simultaneously cleaved at multiple sites, allowing the radiating
axopodia in a heliozoan, Raphidocystis contractilis, to disappear almost instantly. They have
now identified the gene set and proteins involved in this microtubule disruption. This research
can help develop a method to detect water pollution and evaluate the efficacy of new anticancer
drugs.

Reflection: This research has a lot of potential since raphidocystis contractilis is made up of
proteins called alpha-beta tubulin heterodimers, which form filaments called microtubules. R.
Contracilis may rapidly remove its axopodia in response to environmental stimuli. The
researchers speculated that this was conceivable if microtubules split at many locations at the
same time. To test this idea, the researchers set out to identify the proteins and genes involved in
R's rapid breakage of microtubules. contractilis. On November 21, 2022, their findings were
published online in The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology.
The researchers also discovered a paucity of genes associated with flagellar development and
movement, indicating that R. Contractilis did not arise from flagella. Although many genes
remain unidentified, the newly identified gene collection will serve as a resource for future
research aimed at understanding R's axopodial movement.  Heliozoan axopodial can operate as a
sensitive sensor. They are capable of detecting minute changes in their surroundings, such as the
presence of heavy metal ions and anticancer medicines. They think that the axopodial reaction of
heliozoa may be exploited as an indicator to construct temporary detection and monitoring
systems for environmental and tap water contamination. 
It may also be utilized as a new bioassay method for the first screening of novel anticancer
medicines. They intend to continue working as a team in the future to further scientific and
practical research on these organisms.

Reference: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/01/230118092028.htm
Author: Risa Ikeda, Tosuke Sakagami, Mayuko Hamada, Tatsuya Sakamoto, Toshimitsu
Hatabu, Noboru Saito, Motonori Ando