402
CLAUDE FROMAGEOT AND JACQUES C. SENEZ
Methane-oxidizing bacteria are widely distributed in the soil where
they oxidize the methane derived from the degradation of cellulose by
methane-forming bacteria and, occasionally, the emanations of methane
coming from deep-lying hydrocarbon deposits. Counts of methaneoxidizing bacteria have been used for geomicrobiological detection of
petroleum deposits (222).
D. OXIDATION OF CARBON MONOXIDE
Beijerinck and van Delden (223) are generally credited with the
discovery of a bacterium capable of oxidizing carbon monoxide aerobically by this reaction:
CO + V 2 0 2 = C0 2
(-Δ^°2 98 ο = +66 kcal.)
They described a Gram-positive, immobile bacterium which they called
Bacillus oligocarbophilus, but, as emphasized by Kistner (224) in his
critical survey of the literature, they did not bring formal proof of its
ability to oxidize CO. Later Kaserer (128), during his studies on the
bacterial oxidation of H 2 , isolated a bacterium which he deemed capable
of CO oxidation and identical with the organism found by Beijerink.
Lantzsch (225) gave a more detailed morphological description of this
organism and retained the name of B. oligocarbophilus although Bisset
and Grace (62) felt that some of its reported characteristics, such as
Gram-positive staining, low resistance to acid, and the transitory filamentous phase, corresponded more closely to a yeast, like Nocardia,
than to a bacterial species.
Hasemann (226) was the first to provide definite proof of bacterial
oxidation of CO by obtaining from enrichment cultures in inorganic
media and in the presence of illuminating gas several pure strains of
microorganisms which consume carbon monoxide aerobically. More
recently, Jones and Scott (227) demonstrated rapid disappearance of
CO from the atmosphere of a coal mine and were able to relate this
purification of the air clearly to the activity of bacteria. Finally, Kistner
(224) obtained a pure culture from sewage sludge of a mobile, Gramnegative, monotrichous bacterium which can grow aerobically by oxidizing either CO or molecular hydrogen or various organic substrates.
Its morphological and physiological characteristics are very different
from those of B. oligocarbophilus but similar to those of the hydrogen
bacteria, and it was therefore named Hydrogenomcmas carboxyvorans.
The hydrogenase of this facultative chemo-lithotroph as well as the
enzymes which catalyze the oxidation of CO are both adaptive enzymatic systems, formed only when the cells are grown in the presence
of the respective substrates.
CLAUDE FROMAGEOT AND JACQUES C. SENEZ
Methane-oxidizing bacteria are widely distributed in the soil where
they oxidize the methane derived from the degradation of cellulose by
methane-forming bacteria and, occasionally, the emanations of methane
coming from deep-lying hydrocarbon deposits. Counts of methaneoxidizing bacteria have been used for geomicrobiological detection of
petroleum deposits (222).
D. OXIDATION OF CARBON MONOXIDE
Beijerinck and van Delden (223) are generally credited with the
discovery of a bacterium capable of oxidizing carbon monoxide aerobically by this reaction:
CO + V 2 0 2 = C0 2
(-Δ^°2 98 ο = +66 kcal.)
They described a Gram-positive, immobile bacterium which they called
Bacillus oligocarbophilus, but, as emphasized by Kistner (224) in his
critical survey of the literature, they did not bring formal proof of its
ability to oxidize CO. Later Kaserer (128), during his studies on the
bacterial oxidation of H 2 , isolated a bacterium which he deemed capable
of CO oxidation and identical with the organism found by Beijerink.
Lantzsch (225) gave a more detailed morphological description of this
organism and retained the name of B. oligocarbophilus although Bisset
and Grace (62) felt that some of its reported characteristics, such as
Gram-positive staining, low resistance to acid, and the transitory filamentous phase, corresponded more closely to a yeast, like Nocardia,
than to a bacterial species.
Hasemann (226) was the first to provide definite proof of bacterial
oxidation of CO by obtaining from enrichment cultures in inorganic
media and in the presence of illuminating gas several pure strains of
microorganisms which consume carbon monoxide aerobically. More
recently, Jones and Scott (227) demonstrated rapid disappearance of
CO from the atmosphere of a coal mine and were able to relate this
purification of the air clearly to the activity of bacteria. Finally, Kistner
(224) obtained a pure culture from sewage sludge of a mobile, Gramnegative, monotrichous bacterium which can grow aerobically by oxidizing either CO or molecular hydrogen or various organic substrates.
Its morphological and physiological characteristics are very different
from those of B. oligocarbophilus but similar to those of the hydrogen
bacteria, and it was therefore named Hydrogenomcmas carboxyvorans.
The hydrogenase of this facultative chemo-lithotroph as well as the
enzymes which catalyze the oxidation of CO are both adaptive enzymatic systems, formed only when the cells are grown in the presence
of the respective substrates.