Anne M Henstra

University of Nottingham | Notts · Synthetic Biology Research Centre

Archaea share genomic similarities with Eukarya and cellular architectural similarities with Bacteria, though archaeal and bacterial surface layers (S-layers) differ. Using cellular cryo–electron tomography, we visualized the S-layer lattice surrounding Methanospirillum hungatei , a methanogenic archaeon. Though more compact than known structures,...

Although microbial genome sequences are relatively easily determined, assigning gene function remains a bottleneck. Consequently, relatively few genes are well characterized, leaving the function of many as either hypothetical or entirely unknown.

We report a liquid chromatography–isotope dilution mass spectrometry method for the simultaneous quantification of 131 intracellular bacterial metabolites of Clostridium autoethanogenum. A comprehensive mixture of uniformly ¹³C-labeled internal standards (U-¹³C IS) was biosynthesized from the closely related bacterium Clostridium pasteurianum using...

The majority of the genes present in bacterial genomes remain poorly characterised with up to one third of those that are protein encoding having no definitive function. Transposon insertion sequencing represents a high-throughput technique that can help rectify this deficiency. The technology, however, can only be realistically applied to easily t...

Carbonic anhydrase catalyses the interconversion of carbon dioxide and water to bicarbonate and protons. It was unknown if the industrial-relevant acetogen Clostridium autoethanogenum possesses these enzymes. We identified two putative carbonic anhydrase genes in its genome, one of the β class and one of the γ class. Carbonic anhydrase activity was...

Clostridium autoethanogenum is an industrial microbe used for the commercial-scale production of ethanol from carbon monoxide. While significant progress has been made in the attempted diversification of this bioprocess, further improvements are desirable, particularly in the formation of the high-value platform chemicals, such as 2,3-butanediol. A...

Clostridium autoethanogenum and Clostridium ljungdahlii are physiologically and genetically very similar strict anaerobic acetogens capable of growth on carbon monoxide as sole carbon source. While exact nutritional requirements have not been reported, we observed that for growth, the addition of vitamins to media already containing yeast extract w...

Clostridium encompasses species which are relevant to human and animal disease as well as species which have industrial potential, for instance, as producers of chemicals and fuels or as tumour delivery vehicles. Genetic manipulation of these target organisms is critical for advances in these fields. DNA transfer efficiencies, however, vary between...

We have investigated the applicability of commercially available lyophilised Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis), a microorganism uniformly labelled with ¹³C, as a readily accessible source of multiple ¹³C-labelled metabolites suitable as internal standards for quantitative determination of intracellular bacterial metabolites. Metabolites of interest...

Supplementary material

Gas fermentation using acetogenic bacteria such as Clostridium autoethanogenum offers an attractive route for production of fuel ethanol from industrial waste gases. Acetate reduction to acetaldehyde and further to ethanol via an aldehyde:ferredoxin oxidoreductase (AOR) and alcohol dehydrogenase has been postulated alongside the classic pathway of...

Unlabelled: The future sustainable production of chemicals and fuels from nonpetrochemical resources and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions are two of the greatest societal challenges. Gas fermentation, which utilizes the ability of acetogenic bacteria such as Clostridium autoethanogenum to grow and convert CO2 and CO into low-carbon fuels and...

Clostridium species are both heroes and villains. Some cause serious human and animal diseases, those present in the gut microbiota generally contribute to health and wellbeing, while others represent useful industrial chassis for the production of chemicals and fuels. To understand, counter or exploit, there is a fundamental requirement for effect...

This study shows that Geobacter sulfurreducens grows on carbon monoxide (CO) as electron donor with fumarate as electron acceptor. Geobacter sulfurreducens was tolerant to high CO levels, with up to 150 kPa in the headspace tested. During growth, hydrogen was detected in very slight amounts (∼5 Pa). In assays with cell-free extract of cells grown w...

Background Clostridium autoethanogenum is an acetogenic bacterium capable of producing high value commodity chemicals and biofuels from the C1 gases present in synthesis gas. This common industrial waste gas can act as the sole energy and carbon source for the bacterium that converts the low value gaseous components into cellular building blocks an...

strain MPOB is the best-studied species of the genus . The species is of interest because of its anaerobic syntrophic lifestyle, its involvement in the conversion of propionate to acetate, H and CO during the overall degradation of organic matter, and its release of products that serve as substrates for other microorganisms. The strain is able to f...

Storage granules are an important component of metabolism in many organisms spanning the bacterial, eukaryal and archaeal domains, but systematic analysis of their organization inside cells is lacking. In this study, we identify and characterize granule-like inclusion bodies in a methanogenic archaeon, Methanospirillum hungatei, an anaerobic microo...

Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans is a thermophilic strictly anaerobic bacterium that catalyses the water gas shift reaction, the conversion of carbon monoxide with water to molecular hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The thermodynamically favorable growth temperature, compared to existing industrial catalytic processes, makes this organism an interesti...

Several strains of Gram-negative and Gram-positive sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB) are able to use carbon monoxide (CO) as a carbon source and electron donor for biological sulphate reduction. These strains exhibit variable resistance to CO toxicity. The most resistant SRB can grow and use CO as an electron donor at concentrations up to 100%, wher...

Both natural and anthropogenic hot environments contain appreciable levels of carbon monoxide (CO). Anaerobic microbial communities play an important role in CO conversion in such environments. CO is involved in a number of redox reactions. It is biotransformed by thermophilic methanogens, acetogens, hydrogenogens, sulfate reducers, and ferric iron...

A thermophilic spore-forming bacterium (strain AMP) was isolated from a thermophilic methanogenic bioreactor that was fed with cobalt-deprived synthetic medium containing methanol as substrate. 16S rRNA gene analysis revealed that strain AMP was closely related to the acetogenic bacterium Moorella thermoacetica DSM 521(T) (98.3% sequence similarity...

Recent advances in the field of microbial physiology demonstrate that carbon monoxide is a readily used substrate by a wide variety of anaerobic micro-organisms, and may be employed in novel biotechnological processes for production of bulk and fine chemicals or in biological treatment of waste streams. Synthesis gas produced from fossil fuels or b...

Anaerobic syntrophic associations of fermentative bacteria and methanogenic archaea operate at the thermodynamic limits of life. The interspecies transfer of electrons from formate or hydrogen as a substrate for the methanogens is key. Contrary requirements of syntrophs and methanogens for growth-sustaining product and substrate concentrations keep...

High rates of sulfidogenesis were observed in sediments from hypersaline soda lakes. Anaerobic enrichment cultures at 2 M Na(+) and pH 10 inoculated with sediment samples from these lakes produced sulfide most actively with sulfite and thiosulfate as electron acceptors, and resulted in the isolation of three pure cultures of extremely natronophilic...

Anaerobic syntrophic associations of fermentative bacteria and methanogenic archaea operate at the thermodynamic limits of life. The interspecies transfer of electrons from formate or hydrogen as a substrate for the methanogens is key. Contrary requirements of syntrophs and methanogens for growth-sustaining product and substrate concentrations keep...

The genome sequence of Archaeoglobus fulgidus VC16 encodes three CO dehydrogenase genes. Here we explore the capacity of A. fulgidus to use CO as growth substrate. Archaeoglobus fulgidus VC16 was successfully adapted to growth medium that contained sulfate and CO. In the presence of CO and sulfate the culture OD(660) increased to 0.41 and sulfide,...

A significant portion of biomass sources like straw and wood is poorly degradable and cannot be converted to biofuels by microorganisms. The gasification of this waste material to produce synthesis gas (or syngas) could offer a solution to this problem, as microorganisms that convert CO and H2) (the essential components of syngas) to multicarbon co...

Microbial CO metabolism was studied in detail with the ultimate aim to assess the feasibility of a biotechnological process that could replace the existing water gas shift technology in the production of a fuel cell grade hydrogen gas from synthesis gas. It is expected that a biotechnological process is less sensitive to impurities present in synth...

A moderately thermophilic, anaerobic, chemolithoheterotrophic, sulfate-reducing bacterium, strain CO-1-SRB(T), was isolated from sludge from an anaerobic bioreactor treating paper mill wastewater. Cells were Gram-positive, motile, spore-forming rods. The temperature range for growth was 30-68 degrees C, with an optimum at 55 degrees C. The NaCl con...

Biological sulfate (SO4) reduction with carbon monoxide (CO) as electron donor was investigated. Four thermophilic SO4-reducing bacteria, Desulfotomaculum thermoacetoxidans (DSM 5813), Thermodesulfovibrio yellowstonii (ATCC 51303), Desulfotomaculum kuznetsovii (DSM 6115; VKM B-1805), and Desulfotomaculum thermobenzoicum subsp. thermosyntrophicum (D...

Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans is able to grow by conversion of CO to H2 and CO2. Besides CO, only pyruvate was described as serving as an energy source. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, C. hydrogenoformans is closely related to Thermoterrabacterium ferrireducens. T. ferrireducens is like C. hydrogenoformans a gram-positive, thermophi...