Nitric-oxide-driven oxygen release in anoxic Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Mads Lichtenberg,
Laura Line,
Verena Schrameyer,
Tim Holm Jakobsen,
Morten Levin Rybtke,
Masanori Toyofuku,
Nobuhiko Nomura,
Mette Kolpen,
Tim Tolker-Nielsen,
Michael Kühl,
Thomas Bjarnsholt,
Peter Østrup Jensen
Affiliations
Mads Lichtenberg
Costerton Biofilm Center, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
Laura Line
Costerton Biofilm Center, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
Verena Schrameyer
Marine Biological Section, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 3000 Helsingør, Denmark
Tim Holm Jakobsen
Costerton Biofilm Center, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
Morten Levin Rybtke
Costerton Biofilm Center, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
Masanori Toyofuku
Microbiology Research Center for Sustainability (MiCS), Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 305-8577 Tsukuba, Japan
Nobuhiko Nomura
Microbiology Research Center for Sustainability (MiCS), Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 305-8577 Tsukuba, Japan
Mette Kolpen
Department of Clinical Microbiology, Rigshospitalet, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
Tim Tolker-Nielsen
Costerton Biofilm Center, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
Michael Kühl
Marine Biological Section, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 3000 Helsingør, Denmark
Thomas Bjarnsholt
Costerton Biofilm Center, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark; Department of Clinical Microbiology, Rigshospitalet, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
Peter Østrup Jensen
Costerton Biofilm Center, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark; Department of Clinical Microbiology, Rigshospitalet, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark; Center for Rheumatology and Spine Diseases, Institute for Inflammation Research, Rigshospitalet, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark; Corresponding author
Summary: Denitrification supports anoxic growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in infections. Moreover, denitrification may provide oxygen (O2) resulting from dismutation of the denitrification intermediate nitric oxide (NO) as seen in Methylomirabilis oxyfera. To examine the prevalence of NO dismutation we studied O2 release by P. aeruginosa in airtight vials. P. aeruginosa rapidly depleted O2 but NO supplementation generated peaks of O2 at the onset of anoxia, and we demonstrate a direct role of NO in the O2 release. However, we were not able to detect genetic evidence for putative NO dismutases.The supply of endogenous O2 at the onset of anoxia could play an adaptive role when P. aeruginosa enters anaerobiosis. Furthermore, O2 generation by NO dismutation may be more widespread than indicated by the reports on the distribution of homologues genes. In general, NO dismutation may allow removal of nitrate by denitrification without release of the very potent greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide.
