Happy to share our latest article in Environmental Science & Technology!
We show that the acidophilic sulfate-reducing bacterium Acididesulfobacillus acetoxydans remains metabolically active under AMD-like acidity through cation transport and membrane remodelling!
doi.org/10.1021/acs....
New paper out:
Robust ammonium oxidation across a broad pH range.
Here, we show that “Ca. Nitrosacidococcus tergens” is a robust ammonium oxidizer across pH 2.5–7.0 (both ways: up/down). N-balances shifted at lower pH, having implications for acidic wastewater treatment.
doi.org/10.1128/mbio...
Preprint out!
Anaerobic methanotrophs are key methane oxidizers, but their activity/adaptation under acidic conditions remains unclear. We show that a freshwater ANME adapts to pH stress via shifts in lipid composition and remains metabolically active down to pH 5.65. Expanding the niche of ANME.
Applications for the FEMS Summer School for Postdocs close very soon.
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🗓 Still finalising your application? Submit by 23:59 CEST tonight buff.ly/8sPH1dF.
Grab a coffee and enjoy reading up on CO metabolism in methanotrophs!
Freshwater ANME (own work):
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Marine ANME (@Orphan lab):
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Big thanks to our collaborators at QUT!
@sjmcilroy.bsky.social (Heyu/Andy/Gene!) @cuwelte.bsky.social
Research by microbiologists @raegas.bsky.social and @cuwelte.bsky.social of @ribesresearch.bsky.social shows that many methane-consuming microorganisms actually prefer carbon monoxide over methane. When carbon monoxide is present, they consume far less methane. 1/2
Global warming boosts freshwater methane production. Now, a study shows that methane oxidizing bacteria cannot increase their methane consumption rates enough in response to warming-induced enhancement of methane availability, leading to higher emissions.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Congratulations to our esteemed colleague, Prof. dr. ir. @carolineslomp.bsky.social of #microbiology @ribesresearch.bsky.social, who received a Royal Decoration in the Order of the Netherlands Lion today 🇳🇱 for her exceptionel service to science & society. #biogeochemistry #oxygen @erc.europa.eu
The world is facing a climate crisis intensified by human-driven nutrient pollution.
Ammonia and the bacteria that oxidize it are central both to the global nitrogen cycle
and to wastewater treatment....
Anaerobic methane-oxidizing archaea mitigate methane emissions in anoxic environments. Here, Egas et al. show that these microbes can also oxidize carbon monoxide, prompting re-evaluation of their cla...
Acid mine drainage (AMD) waters are a global environmental threat due to their extremely low pH (<3) and high metal loads. Acidophilic sulfate-reducing bacteria (aSRB) can mitigate AMD by reducing sulfate to sulfide, a proton-consuming process that also precipitates metals as metal sulfides. Although sulfate reduction has been observed in AMD waters, most characterized aSRB are only moderately acidophilic. Here, we examined the pH tolerance and proton stress adaptation of the complete organic acid-oxidizing aSRB Acididesulfobacillus acetoxydans. Continuous chemostat cultivations were operated across a pH gradient, reaching steady states from pH 5.0 (optimum) to pH 2.9. In subsequent batch incubations, biomass from a pH 2.9 chemostat remained metabolically active at pH 2.5. Transcriptomic profiles remained remarkably stable across conditions, except for the upregulation of the K+-transporting ATPase (kdpABC) at lower pH, suggesting an increased reliance on the chemiosmotic gradient to impede proton influx. Lipid analysis revealed increased core lipid saturation, midchain methylation, and a shift in priming precursors from leucine to valine at low pH, indicating reduced membrane permeability and more energy-efficient biosynthetic pathways. Together, these adaptations likely reduce proton entry, explaining how aSRB adapt to AMD-like acidity and unlock the pH bottleneck for AMD bioremediation and metal recovery.
Research by microbiologists Reinier Egas and Cornelia Welte of Radboud University shows that many methane-consuming microorganisms actually prefer carbon monoxide over methane. When carbon monoxide is...
Global warming boosts freshwater methane production. Now, a study shows that methane oxidizing bacteria cannot increase their methane consumption rates enough in response to warming-induced enhancemen...
www.nature.com
Various C₁–C₂ compounds are increasingly available through electrochemical reduction of CO2. Although not always suitable as a sole substrate, these compounds can supplement a primary substrate like ....
Radboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Sciences
New preprint out: Although sulfate reduction at pH < 3 is reported in acid mine/rock drainage environments, isolated aSRB have never matched this limit. Using axenic planktonic chemostats plus DNA/RNA and lipid analyses, we demonstrate aSRB activity and underlying physiology at AMD-like pH.
Ian Hall
Britt Abrahamson
Adaptation of the freshwater anaerobic methanotroph 'Ca. Methanoperedens vercellensis' to low pH levels reveals membrane lipid remodelling https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.04.11.717812v1
