Rhodococcus erythropolis is an aerobic Gram-positive bacterium species in the genus Rhodococcus. The name Rhodococcus erythropolis is derived from its morphogenetic cycle from branching to rod and to coccus morphology, which explains the series of morphological changes this bacterium undergoing during growth and development processes.[2] These bacterium are found in red and orange colonies when observed this explains the species name erythropolis which means "red city" in Greek.[3]
| Rhodococcus erythropolis | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Bacteria |
| Phylum: | Actinomycetota |
| Class: | Actinomycetia |
| Order: | Mycobacteriales |
| Family: | Nocardiaceae |
| Genus: | Rhodococcus |
| Species: | R. erythropolis
|
| Binomial name | |
| Rhodococcus erythropolis (Gray and Thornton 1928) Goodfellow and Alderson 1979 (Approved Lists 1980)
| |
| Type strain | |
| ATCC 4277 CIP 104179 DSM 43066 HAMBI 1953 IEGM 7 IFO 15567 JCM 20419 JCM 3201 LMG 5359 N11 NBRC 15567 NCIB 9158 NCIMB 9158 NCTC 13021 NRRL B-16025 VKM Ac-858 | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Characteristics and adaptability
editThis bacterium is aerobic and can be found in soil surfaces where oxygen is abundant and is described as red and orange colored when they are cultured on a medium.[4][5] This bacterium is non-motile and have an unusual cell envelope composition characterized by a high mycolic acid content, which helps to elevate the cell surface ability of hydrophobicity. This characteristic of the cell surface helps the bacterium to survive between polar and non-polar media.[6]
Diversity
editRhodococcus strains as well as R. erythropolis variants are widely distributed throughout diverse environments ranging from sea level to Alpine soils, deep sea to coastal sediments and Arctic to Antarctic samples. This wide distribution explains their adaptability and resilience in various ecosystems.[7] R. erythropolis has been isolated from the air of the Russian Space Laboratory Mir along with a large number of other microorganisms that steadily accumulated during the lifespan of the station.[1] Rhodococcus bacteria are known to degrade organic compounds contained in the rubber used aboard the space station with specialized enzymes.[8] This can lead to degradation of critical components and necessitates replacement of the parts or preventive measures dealing with microbial contamination.
History
editR. erythropolis was named as Mycobacterium erythropolis, and then later called with other names such as Nocardia erythropolis etc.,[3] before changing it to Rhodococcus erythropolis based on its growth and morphological characteristics.
Pathogenicity
editThere were few cases that are infected by R. erythropolis. This bacterium found on various sites of the body such as skin,[9] eye, and bloodstream,[3] and in sputum of a pulmonary illness patient. Though Rhodococcus spp. are found to be infectious to plants and animals, the R. erythropolis is believed to have minimal pathogenic potential; however, sporadic reports have highlighted its clinically significant involvement in certain cases.[10]
Metabolism
editRhodococcus erythropolis exhibits a metabolic diversity and produces enzymes that are capable which capable to degrade (including oxidation, dehydrogenation, epoxidation, hydrolysis, hydroxylation, dehalogenation and desulfurization) a wide range of hydrophobic compounds, and xenobiotics such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, and dibenzothiophenes.[7] This metabolic versatility is due to the presence and movement of large plasmids, also due to the multiple homologous enzymes in catabolic pathways, to enrich the bacterium versatility. Due to the bacterium ability of resisting to tough chemicals and breaking down difficult-to-remove compounds like lignin, petroleum, and pesticides, R. erythropolis are called as master of metabolisms and remarkable. Hence it explains the widely usage of the R. eythropolis for degrading environmental pollutions.[6]
R. erythropolis is capable of changing the fatty acid composition of its membrane in response to different carbon sources which helps to maintain membrane fluidity and essential biological functions under different environmental conditions. This explains its ability of resilience and adaptability.[7] This micro-organism exhibits Oligotrophic growth and is referred with this term since its CO2 fixation system is not yet discovered.[11]
Applications in biotechnology
editIn biotechnological applications, R. erythropolis has proven to be a robust biocatalyst, capable of enduring the presence of deleterious substances commonly faced in organic-aqueous biotransformation systems. This bacterium cells able to tolerate and adapt to solvents under stress conditions to protect cell population from solvent effects, since solvent toxicity is a major factor influencing cell behavior and performance in biotransformation systems. R. erythropolis can naturally grow in contaminated environments, due to this mechanism this bacterium is used in the process of bioremediation.[7] Apart from the bacterium role in bioremediation, R. erythropolis is capable of acting as biological control in plants. The bacterium's abilities of catabolic mechanisms and degrading abilities are used to disrupt quorum sensing mediated communication of gram negative pathogens that affects plants particularly in phyllosphere and rhizosphere. The role of R. erythropolis as a biological control in plants explains its application in agriculture and environmental applications.[6]
Genomics
editR. erythropolis bacterium genome consists of one main chromosome with 6,455,263 bp, one linear plasmid(227,989bp), and three circular plasmids with ([79,600bp], [5,420bp], [5,444bp]). The G+C contents occupies 59 to 62% genome. The whole genome contains 6, 318 putative coding sequences, 60 tRNAs, and 5 rrn operons.[12]
References
edit- ^ a b Li Y, Kawamura Y, Fujiwara N, Naka T, Liu H, Huang X, et al. (May 2004). "Rothia aeria sp. nov., Rhodococcus baikonurensis sp. nov. and Arthrobacter russicus sp. nov., isolated from air in the Russian space laboratory Mir". International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. 54 (Pt 3): 827–835. doi:10.1099/ijs.0.02828-0. PMID 15143031.
- ^ Goodfellow M, Alderson G, Chun J (1998). "Rhodococcal systematics: problems and developments". Antonie van Leeuwenhoek. 74 (1–3): 3–20. doi:10.1023/a:1001730725003. PMID 10068784.
- ^ a b c Baba H, Nada T, Ohkusu K, Ezaki T, Hasegawa Y, Paterson DL (August 2009). "First case of bloodstream infection caused by Rhodococcus erythropolis". Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 47 (8): 2667–2669. doi:10.1128/JCM.00294-09. PMC 2725670. PMID 19494072.
- ^ Graham JE, Moore JE, Jiru X, Moore JE, Goodall EA, Dooley JS, et al. (December 2007). "Ocular pathogen or commensal: a PCR-based study of surface bacterial flora in normal and dry eyes". Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. 48 (12): 5616–5623. doi:10.1167/iovs.07-0588. PMID 18055811.
- ^ Bell KS, Philp JC, Aw DW, Christofi N (August 1998). "The genus Rhodococcus". Journal of Applied Microbiology. 85 (2): 195–210. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2672.1998.00525.x. PMID 9750292.
- ^ a b c Latour X, Barbey C, Chane A, Groboillot A, Burini JF (December 2013). "Rhodococcus erythropolis and its γ-Lactone Catabolic Pathway: An Unusual Biocontrol System that Disrupts Pathogen Quorum Sensing Communication". Agronomy. 3 (4): 816–838. doi:10.3390/agronomy3040816.
- ^ a b c d de Carvalho CC, da Fonseca MM (June 2005). "The remarkable Rhodococcus erythropolis". Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology. 67 (6): 715–726. doi:10.1007/s00253-005-1932-3. PMID 15711940.
- ^ Bell TE. (2007). "Preventing "Sick" Spaceships". NASA Science. NASA. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
- ^ Vernazza PL, Bodmer T, Galeazzi RL (July 1991). "[Rhodococcus erythropolis infection in HIV-associated immunodeficiency]". Schweizerische Medizinische Wochenschrift. 121 (30): 1095–1098. PMID 1866607.
- ^ Park SD, Uh Y, Jang IH, Yoon KJ, Kim HM, Bae YJ (February 2011). "Rhodococcus erythropolis septicaemia in a patient with acute lymphocytic leukaemia". Journal of Medical Microbiology. 60 (Pt 2): 252–255. doi:10.1099/jmm.0.015412-0. PMID 20965915.
- ^ Ohhata N, Yoshida N, Egami H, Katsuragi T, Tani Y, Takagi H (October 2007). "An extremely oligotrophic bacterium, Rhodococcus erythropolis N9T-4, isolated from crude oil". Journal of Bacteriology. 189 (19): 6824–6831. doi:10.1128/JB.00872-07. PMC 2045210. PMID 17675378.
- ^ Kitagawa W, Hata M (December 2022). "Complete Genome Sequence of Rhodococcus erythropolis JCM 2895, an Antibiotic Protein-Producing Strain". Microbiology Resource Announcements. 11 (12): e0068222. doi:10.1128/mra.00682-22. PMC 9753674. PMID 36321907.
Further reading
edit- Lee M, Kim MK, Singleton I, Goodfellow M, Lee ST (February 2006). "Enhanced biodegradation of diesel oil by a newly identified Rhodococcus baikonurensis EN3 in the presence of mycolic acid". Journal of Applied Microbiology. 100 (2): 325–333. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2672.2005.02756.x. PMID 16430509.
- Yoon J, Miwa H, Ahmed I, Yokota A, Fujiwara T (2010). "Rhodococcus baikonurensis BTM4c, a boron-tolerant actinobacterial strain isolated from soil". Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry. 74 (1): 178–181. doi:10.1271/bbb.90464. PMID 20057133.
- Kuhad RC, Singh A, eds. (2013). Biotechnology for environmental management and resource recovery. New Delhi New York: Springer. ISBN 978-81-322-0876-1.
- Dworkin M, Falkow S, eds. (2006). The Prokaryotes. Vol. 3 Archaea. Bacteria: Firmicutes, Actinomycetes. Springer. ISBN 978-0-387-25493-7.
- Holt JG, Krieg NR, Sneath PH, Staley JT, Williams ST, eds. (1986). Bergey's manual of systematic bacteriology. Vol. Volume 5: The Actinobacteria. Williams & Wilkins. ISBN 978-0-387-68233-4.
- Alvarez HM (2010). Biology of Rhodococcus. Microbiology Monographs. Vol. 16. Heidelberg: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-12937-7. ISBN 978-3-642-12937-7.
