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Science 12 January 2007:
Vol. 315. no. 5809, pp. 247 - 250
DOI: 10.1126/science.1132913
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Reports

Physiological Proteomics of the Uncultured Endosymbiont of Riftia pachyptila

Stephanie Markert,1 Cordelia Arndt,2 Horst Felbeck,3 Dörte Becher,1 Stefan M. Sievert,4 Michael Hügler,4 Dirk Albrecht,1,5 Julie Robidart,3 Shellie Bench,6 Robert A. Feldman,7 Michael Hecker,1,5 Thomas Schweder1,5*

The bacterial endosymbiont of the deep-sea tube worm Riftia pachyptila has never been successfully cultivated outside its host. In the absence of cultivation data, we have taken a proteomic approach based on the metagenome sequence to study the metabolism of this peculiar microorganism in detail. As one result, we found that three major sulfide oxidation proteins constitute ~12% of the total cytosolic proteome, which highlights the essential role of these enzymes for the symbiont's energy metabolism. Unexpectedly, the symbiont uses the reductive tricarboxylic acid cycle in addition to the previously identified Calvin cycle for CO2 fixation.

1 Institute of Marine Biotechnology, Walther-Rathenau-Strasse 49, D-17489 Greifswald, Germany.
2 Max-Planck-Institute for Infection Biology, D-10117 Berlin, Germany.
3 Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA 92093–0202, USA.
4 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
5 Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University, D-17487 Greifswald, Germany.
6 University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.
7 SymBio Corporation, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: schweder{at}uni-greifswald.de

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)