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Gas Vesicle Genes in Halophilic Archaea and Bacteria

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Halophilic Microorganisms

Abstract

Gas vesicles are produced by many planktonic bacteria and archaea, and are flotation devices filled by passive diffusion with gases dissolved in the environment (Walsby 1994). The possession of gas vesicles can be easily determined by phase contrast microscopy of the organisms where they appear as light refractile bodies inside the cells. The gas vesicle envelope consists of two proteins, namely, the small, hydrophobic GvpA protein (7 kDa) arranged in a linear crystalline array forming the 4.5 nm wide ribs, and the larger, hydrophilic GvpC protein that is attached to the outer surface and stabilizes this structure. The ribs are arranged perpendicular to the long axis of the gas vesicle and are formed by a helix of low pitch and not by a stack of hoops (Offner et al. 1998). Almost all bacterial and archaeal gas vesicle producers synthesize cylinder-shaped structures, but Halobacterium salinarum wild type contains spindle-shaped gas vesicles.

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Authors
  1. Felicitas Pfeifer
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology and Parasitology Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sevilla, 41012, Sevilla, Spain

    Antonio Ventosa

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© 2004 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Pfeifer, F. (2004). Gas Vesicle Genes in Halophilic Archaea and Bacteria. In: Ventosa, A. (eds) Halophilic Microorganisms. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-07656-9_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-07656-9_16

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-05664-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-07656-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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