Exploration of Perchlorate Reduction in Marine Environments
Although more than 50 strains of dissimilatory perchlorate reducing bacteria (DPRB) have been isolated since 1996, the study of microbial perchlorate reduction has been limited mostly to isolates (e.g., Dechloromonas, Azospira, and Ideonella) found in freshwater, mesophilic, neutral-pH environments.
Our work has focused on expanding both the phylogenetic and the physiological diversity of DPRB. Arcobacter sp. CAB was isolated from marine sediment and is currently the only DPRB in the Epsilonproteobacteria. Strain CAB is also physiologically novel; it anaerobically oxidizes the aromatic compound catechol with perchlorate as an electron acceptor via oxygenases.
The oxygen required to break down catechol is internally produced from chlorite dismutation when DPRB utilize perchlorate as an electron acceptor.
Carlström, C.I., Wang, O., Melnyk, R.A., Bauer, S., Lee, J., Engelbrektson, A., and Coates, J.D. (2013). Physiology and genomic description of the novel marine dissimilatory perchlorate reducing bacterium Arcobacter sp. strain CAB. mBio. 4, e00217–13–e00217–13. Link to paper: ncbi.gov