Effects of hydrostatic pressure on growth and luminescence of a moderately-piezophilic luminous bacteria Photobacterium phosphoreum ANT-2200

PLoS One. 2013 Jun 20;8(6):e66580. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0066580. Print 2013.

Abstract

Bacterial bioluminescence is commonly found in the deep sea and depends on environmental conditions. Photobacterium phosphoreum ANT-2200 has been isolated from the NW Mediterranean Sea at 2200-m depth (in situ temperature of 13°C) close to the ANTARES neutrino telescope. The effects of hydrostatic pressure on its growth and luminescence have been investigated under controlled laboratory conditions, using a specifically developed high-pressure bioluminescence system. The growth rate and the maximum population density of the strain were determined at different temperatures (from 4 to 37°C) and pressures (from 0.1 to 40 MPa), using the logistic model to define these two growth parameters. Indeed, using the growth rate only, no optimal temperature and pressure could be determined. However, when both growth rate and maximum population density were jointly taken into account, a cross coefficient was calculated. By this way, the optimum growth conditions for P. phosphoreum ANT-2200 were found to be 30°C and, 10 MPa defining this strain as mesophile and moderately piezophile. Moreover, the ratio of unsaturated vs. saturated cellular fatty acids was found higher at 22 MPa, in agreement with previously described piezophile strains. P. phosphoreum ANT-2200 also appeared to respond to high pressure by forming cell aggregates. Its maximum population density was 1.2 times higher, with a similar growth rate, than at 0.1 MPa. Strain ANT-2200 grown at 22 MPa produced 3 times more bioluminescence. The proposed approach, mimicking, as close as possible, the in situ conditions, could help studying deep-sea bacterial bioluminescence and validating hypotheses concerning its role into the carbon cycle in the deep ocean.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Fatty Acids / metabolism
  • Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / metabolism
  • Hydrostatic Pressure
  • Kinetics
  • Luminescence*
  • Mediterranean Sea
  • Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
  • Microscopy, Electron, Transmission
  • Models, Biological
  • Photobacterium / growth & development*
  • Photobacterium / metabolism*
  • Photobacterium / ultrastructure
  • Temperature*
  • Water Microbiology

Substances

  • Fatty Acids
  • Fatty Acids, Unsaturated

Grants and funding

This work was funded by the ANR-POTES program (ANR-05-BLAN-0161-01) supported by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche, by the AAMIS program (Aix-Marseille Université) and by EC2CO BIOLUX program (CNRS). SM was granted a MERNT fellowship (Ministry of Education, Research and Technology, France). BAA was supported by a fellowship funded by the Syria Ministry of Higher Education. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.