Among the Rhizobiaceae, Bradyrhizobium japonicum strain USDA110 appears to be extremely salt sensitive, and the presence of glycine betaine cannot restore its growth in medium with an increased osmolarity (E. Boncompagni, M. Osteras, M. C. Poggi, and D. Le Rudulier, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 65:2072-2077, 1999). In order to improve the salt tolerance of B. japonicum, cells were transformed with...

A halotolerant cyanobacterium Aphanothece halophytica thrives in extreme salinity with accumulation of a potent osmoprotectant glycine betaine. Recently, this cyanobacterium was shown to accumulate sunscreen molecule mycosporine-2-glycine significantly at high salinity. In this study, we investigated effects of nitrate and amino acid provision on the accumulation of glycine betaine and mycospor...

Intracellular accumulation of glycine betaine has been shown to confer an enhanced level of osmotic stress tolerance in Rhizobium meliloti. In this study, we used a physiological approach to investigate the mechanism by which glycine betaine is accumulated in osmotically stressed R. meliloti. Results from growth experiments, 14C labeling of intermediates, and enzyme activity assays are presente...

Bacteria respond to changes in medium osmolarity by varying the concentrations of specific solutes in order to maintain constant turgor. The primary response of Lactobacillus plantarum to an osmotic upshock involves the accumulation of compatible solutes such as glycine betaine, proline, and glutamate. We have studied the osmotic regulation of glycine betaine transport in L. plantarum by measur...

Accumulation of compatible solutes is a strategy widely employed by bacteria to achieve cellular protection against high osmolarity. These compounds are also used in some microorganisms as thermostress protectants. We found that Bacillus subtilis uses the compatible solute glycine betaine as an effective cold stress protectant. Glycine betaine strongly stimulated growth at 15°C and permitted ce...

Listeria monocytogenes is a gram-positive food-borne pathogen that is notably resistant to osmotic stress and can grow at refrigerator temperatures. These two characteristics make it an insidious threat to public health. Like several other organisms, L. monocytogenes accumulates glycine betaine, a ubiquitous and effective osmolyte, intracellularly when grown under osmotic stress. However, it al...

The genes involved in the oxidative pathway of choline to glycine betaine in the moderate halophile Halomonas elongata DSM 3043 were isolated by functional complementation of an Escherichia coli strain defective in glycine betaine synthesis. The cloned region was able to mediate the oxidation of choline to glycine betaine in E. coli, but not the transport of choline, indicating that the gene(s)...

Choline, glycine betaine, and L-proline enhanced the growth of Staphylococcus aureus at high osmolarity (i.e., they acted as osmoprotectants) on various liquid and solid defined media, while an osmoprotective effect of taurine was shown only for cells growing on high-NaCl solid medium that lacked other osmoprotectants. Potassium pool levels were high, and there was little difference in levels i...

Nine marine methanogenic Methanococcoides strains, including the type strains of Methanococcoides methylutens, M. burtonii, and M. alaskense, were tested for the utilization of N-methylated glycines. Three strains (NM1, PM2, and MKM1) used glycine betaine (N,N,N-trimethylglycine) as a substrate for methanogenesis, partially demethylating it to N,N-dimethylglycine, whereas none of the strains us...