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Bioluminescence is a common phenomenon in nature, especially in the deep ocean. The physiological role of bacterial bioluminescence involves protection against oxidative and UV stresses. Yet, it remains unclear if bioluminescence contributes to deep-sea bacterial adaptation to high hydrostatic pressure (HHP). In this study, we constructed a non-luminescent mutant of ΔluxA and its complementary strain c-ΔluxA of Photobacterium phosphoreum ANT-2200, a deep-sea piezophilic bioluminescent bacterium. The wild-type strain, mutant and complementary strain were compared from aspects of pressure tolerance, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) level and expression of ROS-scavenging enzymes. The results showed that, despite similar growth profiles, HHP induced the accumulation of intracellular ROS and up-regulated the expression of ROS-scavenging enzymes such as dyp, katE and katG, specifically in the non-luminescent mutant. Collectively, our results suggested that bioluminescence functions as the primary antioxidant system in strain ANT-2200, in addition to the well-known ROS-scavenging enzymes. Bioluminescence contributes to bacterial adaptation to the deep-sea environment by coping with oxidative stress generated from HHP. These results further expanded our understanding of the physiological significance of bioluminescence as well as a novel strategy for microbial adaptation to a deep-sea environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alteration of respiratory components as a function of pressure is a common strategy developed in deep-sea microorganisms, presumably to adapt to high hydrostatic pressure (HHP). While the electron transport chain and terminal reductases have been extensively studied in deep-sea bacteria, little is known about their adaptations for ATP generation. In this study, we showed that the deep-sea bacterium Photobacterium profundum SS9 exhibits a more pronounced piezophilic phenotype when grown in minimal medium supplemented with glucose (MG) than in the routinely used MB2216 complex medium. The intracellular ATP level varied with pressure, but with opposite trends in the two culture media. Between the two ATPase systems encoded in SS9, ATPase-I played a dominant role when cultivated in MB2216, whereas ATPase-II was more abundant in the MG medium, especially at elevated pressure when cells had the lowest ATP level among all conditions tested. Further analyses of the ΔatpI, ΔatpE1 and ΔatpE2 mutants showed that disrupting ATPase-I induced expression of ATPase-II and that the two systems are functionally redundant in MB2216. Collectively, we provide the first examination of the differences and relationships between two ATPase systems in a piezophilic bacterium, and expanded our understanding of the involvement of energy metabolism in pressure adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) is one of the most important nutrients for bacteria in the deep-sea environment and is capable of improving pressure tolerance of certain bacterial strains. To assess the impact of TMAO on marine microorganisms, especially those dwelling in the deep-sea environment, we analyzed the bacterial community structure of deep-sea sediments after incubated under different conditions. Enrichments at 50 MPa and 0.1 MPa revealed that TMAO imposed a greater influence on bacterial diversity and community composition at atmospheric pressure condition than that under high hydrostatic pressure (HHP). We found that pressure was the primary factor that determines the bacterial community. Meanwhile, in total, 238 bacterial strains were isolated from the enrichments, including 112 strains affiliated to 16 genera of 4 phyla from the Yap Trench and 126 strains affiliated to 11 genera of 2 phyla from the Mariana Trench. Treatment of HHP reduced both abundance and diversity of isolates, while the presence of TMAO mainly affected the diversity of isolates obtained. In addition, certain genera were isolated only when TMAO was supplemented. Taken together, we demonstrated that pressure primarily defines the bacterial community and culturable bacterial isolates. Furthermore, we showed for the first time that TMAO had distinct influences on bacterial community depending on the pressure condition. The results enriched the understanding of the significance of TMAO in bacterial adaptation to the deep-sea environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]