Systems analysis of the effect of hydrogen sulfide on the growth of Methylococcus capsulatus Bath

Sichong Pei, Ping Liu, David A. Parker, Roderick Ian Mackie, Christopher V. Rao

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Abstract: Methanotrophs are bacteria capable on growing on methane as their sole carbon source. They may provide a promising route for upgrading natural gas into more valuable fuels and chemicals. However, natural gas may contain significant quantities of hydrogen sulfide. Little is known about how hydrogen sulfide affects the growth and physiology of methanotrophs aside from a few studies showing that it is inhibitory. This study investigated how hydrogen sulfide affects the growth and physiology of the model methanotroph, Methylococcus capsulatus Bath. Growth studies demonstrated that hydrogen sulfide inhibits the growth of M. capsulatus Bath when the concentration exceeds 0.5% (v/v). To better understand how hydrogen sulfide is inhibiting the growth of M. capsulatus Bath, transcription and metabolite concentrations were profiled using RNA sequencing and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, respectively. Our analysis of the differentially expressed genes and changes in metabolite concentrations suggests that hydrogen sulfide inhibits cellular respiration. The cells respond to sulfide stress in part by increasing the rate of sulfide oxidation and by increasing the expression of sulfide quinone reductase and a putative persulfide dioxygenase. In addition, they reduce the expression of the native calcium-dependent methanol dehydrogenase and increase the expression of XoxF, a lanthanide-dependent methanol dehydrogenase. While the reason of this switch in unknown, XoxF has previously been shown to be induced by lanthanides or nitric oxide in methanotrophs. Collectively, these results further our understanding of how methanotrophs respond to sulfide stress and may aid in the engineering of strains resistant to hydrogen sulfide.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)7879-7890
Number of pages12
JournalApplied Microbiology and Biotechnology
Volume106
Issue number23
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2022

Keywords

  • Hydrogen sulfide
  • Methane
  • Methanol dehydrogenase
  • Methylococcus capsulatus
  • Sulfide quinone reductase

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology
  • Biotechnology

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