Skip to main content
Log in

A Study on the lack of [methyl-3H] thymidine uptake and incorporation by chemolithotrophic bacteria

  • Note
  • Published:
Microbial Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Five chemolithotrophic bacteria were tested for their ability to incorporate [methyl-3H] thymidine. None of the bacteria incorporated the label, even after incubation for 24 hours. The inability of these bacteria to incorporate thymidine appears to be due to an absence of transport mechanisms for exogenous nucleosides. As a result of these findings, it is concluded that activities deduced from labeled thymidine incorporation measurements probably do not include the activity of chemolithotrophic bacteria.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Amy PS, Morita RY (1983) Starvation-survival patterns of sixteen freshly isolated open-ocean bacteria. Appl Environ Microbiol 45:1109–1115

    Google Scholar 

  2. Beck CF, Ingraham JL, Neuhard J, Thomassen E (1972) Metabolism of pyrimidines and pyrimidine nucleosides bySalmonella typhimurium. J Bacteriol 110:219–228

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Bern L (1985) Autoradiographic studies of [methyI-3H] thymidine incorporation in a cyanobacterium (Microcystis wesenbergii)-bacterium association and in selected algae and bacteria. Appl Environ Microbiol 49:232–243

    Google Scholar 

  4. Chrzanowski TH (1988) Consequences of accounting for isotopic dilution in thymidine incorporation assays. Appl Environ Microbiol 54:1868–1870

    Google Scholar 

  5. Coveney MF, Wetzel RG (1988) Experimental evaluation of conversion factors for the [3H] thymidine incorporation assay of bacterial secondary productivity. Appl Environ Microbiol 54:2018–2026

    Google Scholar 

  6. Fuhrman JA, Azam F (1980) Bacterioplankton secondary production estimates for coastal waters of British Columbia, Antarctica, and California. Appl Environ Microbiol 39:1085–1095

    Google Scholar 

  7. Fuhrman JA, Azam F (1982) Thymidine incorporation as a measure of heterotrophic bacterioplankton production in marine surface waters: evaluation and field results. Mar Biol 66:109–120

    Google Scholar 

  8. Glaser VM, Al-Nui MA, Groshev VV, Shestakov SV (1973) The labelling of nucleic acids by radioactive precursors in the blue green algae. Arch Microbiol 92:217–226

    Google Scholar 

  9. Grivell AR, Jackson JF (1968) Thymidine kinase: evidence for its absence fromNeurospora crassa and some other micro-organisms, and the relevance of this to the specific labelling of deoxyribonucleic acid. J Gen Microbiol 54:307–317

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Hochstadt J (1974) The role of the membrane in the utilization of nucleic acid precursors. CRC Crit Rev Biochem 2:259–310

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Hooper AB (1984) Ammonia oxidation and energy transduction in the nitrifying bacteria. In: Strohl WR, Tuovinen OH (eds) Microbial chemoautotrophy. Ohio State University Press, Columbus, pp 133–168

    Google Scholar 

  12. Jonas RB, Tuttle JH, Stoner DL, Ducklow HW (1988) Dual-label radioisotope method for simultaneously measuring bacterial production and metabolism in natural waters. Appl Environ Microbiol 54:791–798

    Google Scholar 

  13. Jones RD, Hood MA (1980) Effects of temperature, pH, salinity, and inorganic nitrogen on the rate of ammonium oxidation by nitrifiers isolated from wetland environments. Microb Ecol 6:339–347

    Google Scholar 

  14. Jones RD, Morita RY, Koops H-P, Watson SW (1988) A new marine ammonium-oxidizing bacterium,Nitrosomonas cryotolerans sp. nov. Can J Microbiol 34:1122–1128

    Google Scholar 

  15. Karl DM (1982) Selected nucleic acid precursors in studies of aquatic microbial ecology. Appl Environ Microbiol 44:891–902

    Google Scholar 

  16. Karl DM, Knauer GA, Martin JH, Ward BB (1984) Bacterial chemolithotrophy in the ocean is associated with sinking particles. Nature (London) 309:54–56

    Google Scholar 

  17. Moriarty DJW (1985) Measurement of bacterial growth rates in aquatic systems from fates of nucleic acid synthesis. Adv Microbial Ecol 9:245–292

    Google Scholar 

  18. Moriarty DJW, Pollard PC (1981) DNA synthesis as a measure of bacterial productivity in seagrass sediments. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 5:151–156

    Google Scholar 

  19. Moriarty DJW, Pollard PC (1982) Diel variation of bacterial productivity in seagrass (Zostera capricorni) beds measured by rate of thymidine incorporation into DNA. Mar Biol 72:165–172

    Google Scholar 

  20. Munch-Peterson A, Mygind B, Nicolaisen A, Pihl NJ (1979) Nucleoside transport in cells and membrane vesicles fromEscherichia coli K12. J Biol Chem 254:3730–3737

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Pollard PC, Moriarty DJW (1984) Validity of the tritiated thymidine method for estimating bacterial growth rates: the measurement of isotope dilution during DNA synthesis. Appl Environ Microbiol 48:1076–1083

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Smits JD, Riemann B (1988) Calculation of cell production from [3H]thymidine incorporation with freshwater bacteria. Appl Environ Microbiol 54:2213–2219

    Google Scholar 

  23. Torella F, Morita RY (1981) Microcultural study of bacterial size changes and microcolony and ultramicrocolony formation by heterotrophic bacteria in seawater. Appl Environ Microbiol 41:518–527

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Johnstone, B.H., Jones, R.D. A Study on the lack of [methyl-3H] thymidine uptake and incorporation by chemolithotrophic bacteria. Microb Ecol 18, 73–77 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02011697

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02011697

Keywords

Navigation