On April 5th 2013 an article was published in Science magazine with the title: Archaeal (Per)Chlorate Reduction at High Temperature: An Interplay of Biotic and Abiotic Reactions.
This article has been written by Martin Liebensteiner and Alfonds Stams from the Laboratory of Microbiology and Peter Schaap of the Laboratory of Systems and Synthetic Biology. External writers are Martijn Pinkse from Analytical Biotechnology Section and Netherlands Proteomics Centre and Bart Lomans from Shell Global Solutions International B.V.
Abstract
Perchlorate and chlorate anions [(per)chlorate] exist in the environment from natural and anthropogenic sources, where they can serve as electron acceptors for bacteria. We performed growth experiments combined with genomic and proteomic analyses of the hyperthermophile Archaeoglobus fulgidus that show (per)chlorate reduction also extends into the archaeal domain of life. The (per)chlorate reduction pathway in A. fulgidus relies on molybdo-enzymes that have similarity with bacterial enzymes; however, chlorite is not enzymatically split into chloride and oxygen. Evidence suggests that it is eliminated by an interplay of abiotic and biotic redox reactions involving sulfur compounds. Biological (per)chlorate reduction by ancient archaea at high temperature may have prevented accumulation of perchlorate in early terrestrial environments and consequently given rise to oxidizing conditions on Earth before the rise of oxygenic photosynthesis.
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