Haloarchaea and the Formation of Gas Vesicles
Microbiology and Archaea, Department of Biology, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Schnittspahnstrasse 10, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
Academic Editors: Hans-Peter Klenk, Michael W. W. Adams and Roger A. Garrett
Life 2015, 5(1), 385-402; https://doi.org/10.3390/life5010385
Received: 15 December 2014 / Revised: 19 January 2015 / Accepted: 26 January 2015 / Published: 2 February 2015
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Archaea: Evolution, Physiology, and Molecular Biology)
Halophilic Archaea (Haloarchaea) thrive in salterns containing sodium chloride concentrations up to saturation. Many Haloarchaea possess genes encoding gas vesicles, but only a few species, such as Halobacterium salinarum and Haloferax mediterranei, produce these gas-filled, proteinaceous nanocompartments. Gas vesicles increase the buoyancy of cells and enable them to migrate vertically in the water body to regions with optimal conditions. Their synthesis depends on environmental factors, such as light, oxygen supply, temperature and salt concentration. Fourteen gas vesicle protein (gvp) genes are involved in their formation, and regulation of gvp gene expression occurs at the level of transcription, including the two regulatory proteins, GvpD and GvpE, but also at the level of translation. The gas vesicle wall is solely formed of proteins with the two major components, GvpA and GvpC, and seven additional accessory proteins are also involved. Except for GvpI and GvpH, all of these are required to form the gas permeable wall. The applications of gas vesicles include their use as an antigen presenter for viral or pathogen proteins, but also as a stable ultrasonic reporter for biomedical purposes.
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Keywords:
halophilic Archaea; gas vesicle formation; gene regulation
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MDPI and ACS Style
Pfeifer, F. Haloarchaea and the Formation of Gas Vesicles. Life 2015, 5, 385-402. https://doi.org/10.3390/life5010385
AMA Style
Pfeifer F. Haloarchaea and the Formation of Gas Vesicles. Life. 2015; 5(1):385-402. https://doi.org/10.3390/life5010385
Chicago/Turabian StylePfeifer, Felicitas. 2015. "Haloarchaea and the Formation of Gas Vesicles" Life 5, no. 1: 385-402. https://doi.org/10.3390/life5010385
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