Tolerant mechanisms of bacteria to organic solvents.
- Author:
Xinxin WANG
1
;
Shaohua WANG
;
Wei LI
;
Yin LI
;
Yanping ZHANG
Author Information
1. Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- MeSH:
Adaptation, Physiological;
drug effects;
Bacteria;
drug effects;
Drug Resistance, Bacterial;
drug effects;
Industrial Microbiology;
methods;
Organic Chemicals;
pharmacology;
Solvents;
pharmacology
- From:
Chinese Journal of Biotechnology
2009;25(5):641-649
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Organic solvents are usually toxic to microorganisms for destroying the physiological functions. Recently, some studies have revealed that some bacteria are capable of living in conditions with high concentration of solvents through tolerant and adaptive mechanisms. This discovery inspires the research on adaptation and alteration of industrial bacteria, especially for those producing solvents or degrading toxic organic compounds. For a deep understanding and a wide application of the tolerant mechanisms, we address here the recent discoveries on solvents toxicity to bacteria by the parameter logP, and tolerant mechanisms of solvent-tolerant-bacteria to solvents, such as changes in cell membrane including cis-trans isomerisation, the saturated-to-unsaturated fatty acids ratio and the phospholipids head-groups, changes in outer membrane and cell morphology, and other stress responses. Moreover, our experiences in screening novel solvent-tolerant-bacteria and methods in increasing solvent tolerance of industrial microbes are introduced to give a promising strategy for improving solvent production.
