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Hydrogenosomes of Anaerobic Fungi: An Alternative Way to Adapt to Anaerobic Environments

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Hydrogenosomes and Mitosomes: Mitochondria of Anaerobic Eukaryotes

Part of the book series: Microbiology Monographs ((MICROMONO,volume 9))

Abstract

Fungi form a very diverse group of eukaryotes. The majority of investigated fungi contain mitochondria and are capable of oxidative phosphorylation. On the other hand, anaerobically functioning fungi, found as symbionts in the gastrointestinal tract of many herbivorous mammals, contain hydrogenosomes. These organelles of mitochondrial origin are also found in multiple classes of anaerobically functioning protists. Hydrogenosomes produce hydrogen as an end product of a fermentative energy metabolism and produce ATP by substrate-level phosphorylation. However, the hydrogenosomes of the anaerobic fungi Neocallimastix and Piromyces differ from the hydrogenosomes of trichomonads and those of anaerobic ciliates in the way they convert pyruvate to acetyl-CoA. The hydrogenosomes of these anaerobic fungi use pyruvate:formate lyase (PFL), whereas trichomonads use pyruvate-ferredoxin oxidoreductase (PFO), and anaerobic ciliates use pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) for the degradation of pyruvate. The characteristics and role of these hydrogenosomes in the energy metabolism of anaerobic fungi are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Science, IWWR, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Johannes H. P. Hackstein

  2. Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Environmental Molecular Science Division, Biosystems Dynamics and Simulation Group, Richland, WA, USA

    Scott E. Baker

  3. Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Jaap J. van Hellemond & Aloysius G. M. Tielens

  4. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Aloysius G. M. Tielens

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  1. Johannes H. P. Hackstein
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  2. Scott E. Baker
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  3. Jaap J. van Hellemond
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  4. Aloysius G. M. Tielens
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Correspondence to Aloysius G. M. Tielens .

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  1. Faculty of Science, Department of Parasitology BIOCEV, Charles University, Vestec, Czech Republic

    Jan Tachezy

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Hackstein, J.H.P., Baker, S.E., van Hellemond, J.J., Tielens, A.G.M. (2019). Hydrogenosomes of Anaerobic Fungi: An Alternative Way to Adapt to Anaerobic Environments. In: Tachezy, J. (eds) Hydrogenosomes and Mitosomes: Mitochondria of Anaerobic Eukaryotes. Microbiology Monographs, vol 9. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17941-0_7

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