1932

Abstract

There was a long-held belief that the gram-positive soil bacterium is a strict aerobe. But recent studies have shown that will grow anaerobically, either by using nitrate or nitrite as a terminal electron acceptor, or by fermentation. How alters its metabolic activity according to the availability of oxygen and alternative electron acceptors is but one focus of study. A two-component signal transduction system composed of a sensor kinase, ResE, and a response regulator, ResD, occupies an early stage in the regulatory pathway governing anaerobic respiration. One of the essential roles of ResD and ResE in anaerobic gene regulation is induction of transcription upon oxygen limitation. FNR is a transcriptional activator for anaerobically induced genes, including those for respiratory nitrate reductase, . has two distinct nitrate reductases, one for the assimilation of nitrate nitrogen and the other for nitrate respiration. In contrast, one nitrite reductase functions both in nitrite nitrogen assimilation and nitrite respiration. Unlike many anaerobes, which use pyruvate formate lyase, can carry out fermentation in the absence of external electron acceptors wherein pyruvate dehydrogenase is utilized to metabolize pyruvate.

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/content/journals/10.1146/annurev.micro.52.1.165
1998-10-01
2024-03-29
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  • Article Type: Review Article
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