A Proteomic Perspective on the Bacterial Adaptation to Cold: Integrating OMICs Data of the Psychrotrophic Bacterium Exiguobacterium antarcticum B7

Abstract

Since the publication of one of the first studies using 2D gel electrophoresis by Patrick H. O’Farrell in 1975, several other studies have used that method to evaluate cellular responses to different physicochemical variations. In environmental microbiology, bacterial adaptation to cold environments is a “hot topic” because of its application in biotechnological processes. As in other fields, gel-based and gel-free proteomic methods have been used to determine the molecular mechanisms of adaptation to cold of several psychrotrophic and psychrophilic bacterial species. In this review, we aim to describe and discuss these main molecular mechanisms of cold adaptation, referencing proteomic studies that have made significant contributions to our current knowledge in the area. Furthermore, we use Exiguobacterium antarcticum B7 as a model organism to present the importance of integrating genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic data. This species has been isolated in Antarctica and previously studied at all three omic levels. The integration of these data permitted more robust conclusions about the mechanisms of bacterial adaptation to cold.

Beyond the planetary boundary layer: Bacterial and fungal vertical biogeography at Mount Sonnblick, Austria

“…Thermophiles need to be cold-shock adapted when exposed to a mesothermal environment (Baraúna et al, 2017;Cavicchioli et al, 2002in Gerday & Glansdorff, 2009). Why are they so frequent and abundant in an environment where their activity is most likely hampered?…”

“…Why are they so frequent and abundant in an environment where their activity is most likely hampered? Thermophiles need to be cold-shock adapted when exposed to a mesothermal environment (Baraúna et al, 2017;Cavicchioli et al, 2002in Gerday & Glansdorff, 2009). Adaptions to cold might derive by evolution from adaptions to hot conditions (Russo et al, 2010).…”

Quantitative Analysis of Cold Stress Inducing Lipidomic Changes in Shewanella putrefaciens Using UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS

“…From SP-30 to SP-20, the changes in the ratios of SLs/ULs were big and the ratios of SLs/ULs were found to be lower at lower temperature. Bacterial cell membranes become more rigid at low temperatures, and chemical changes occur in some membrane fatty acids to prevent cellular damage [36,72]. The maintenance of bacterial membrane fluidity plays an important role in various physiological functions of cells, such as the transport of nutrients, the protection of adverse environment, and cell morphology [73].…”

“…S. putrefaciens is a cold-adapted microorganism in refrigerated marine fish, and cold-adapted microorganisms exhibit many unique characteristics and molecular mechanisms that allow them to adapt to the environment [33,34]. Low temperature presents many challenges for cold-adapted microorganisms to grow at low temperature, including the increased liquid water viscosity, decreased enzyme activity, reduced lipid membranes' fluidity, enhanced the stability of inhibiting nucleic acid structure, and disturbed protein conformation [35][36][37][38].…”

Editorial for Special Issue: Approaches to Top-Down Proteomics: In Honour of Prof. Patrick H. O’Farrell

“…Baraúna et al, and Campos and Almeida [ 8 , 9 ] provide reviews and perspectives on bacterial cold adaptation and livestock and aquatic sciences, respectively. The former focuses in particular on the integration of broader omics datasets, while the latter emphasizes the important role of proteomics in the area of farm animal health and thus food quality.…”