Shewanella frigidimarina NCIMB 400

Shewanella are facultatively anaerobic, Gram-negative bacteria, motile by polar flagella, rod-like, and generally associated with aquatic or marine environments. . They are capable of using a variety of compounds as electron acceptors, including oxygen, iron, manganese, uranium, nitrate, nitrite, fumarate, to name but a few. This ability makes Shewanella important for bioremediation of contaminated metals and radioactive wastes. The genus Shewanella comprises 36 recognized and hundreds of uncharacterized cultivable species. Shewanella frigidimarina strain NCIMB 400 is a marine bacterium isolated from the North Sea, off the coast of Aberdeen, UK, which exhibits a high degree of respiratory flexibility. Substrates that can be used as electron acceptors in include nitrate, nitrite, trimethylamine N-oxide, Fe(III) and Mn(IV). The organism is rich in c-type cytochromes, the synthesis of many of which appears to be increased during anaerobic growth with ferric irons present as respiratory electron acceptor. Biochemical studies of S. frigidimarina NCIMB 400 have revealed genes for two distinct soluble fumarate reductases and crystal structures of encoded proteins have been determined. This organism has also been a key target for the study of the biochemistry and genetic regulation of Fe(III) respiration. (HAMAP: SHEFN)