ENERGETIC PROBLEMS OF EXTREMELY ALKALIPHILIC AEROBES

Over a decade of work on extremely alkaliphilic Bacillus species has c larified the extraordinary capacity that these bacteria have for regul ating their cytoplasmic pH during growth at pH values well over 10. Ho wever, a variety of interesting energetic problems related to their Na +-dependent pH homeostatic mechanism are yet to be solved. They includ e: (1) the clarification of how cell surface layers play a role in a c ategory of alkaliphiles for which this is the case; (2) identification of the putative, electrogenic Na+/H+ antiporter(s) that, in at least some alkaliphiles, may completely account for a cytoplasmic pH that is over 2 pH units lower than the external pH; (3) the determination of whether specific modules or accessory proteins are essential for the e fficacy of such antiporters; (4) the mechanistic basis for the increas e in the transmembrane electrical potential at the high external pH va lues at which the potential-consuming antiporter(s) must be most activ e; and (5) an explanation for the Na+-specificity of pH homeostasis in the extremely alkaliphilic bacilli as opposed to the almost equivalen t efficacy of K+ for pH homeostasis in at least some non-alkaliphilic aerobes. The current status of such studies and future strategies will be outlined for this central area of alkaliphile energetics. Also con sidered, will be strategies to elucidate the basis for robust H+-coupl ed oxidative phosphorylation by alkaliphiles at pH values over 10. The maintenance of a cytoplasmic pH over 2 units below the high external pH results in a low bulk electrochemical proton gradient (Delta p). To bypass this low Delta p, Na+-coupling is used for solute uptake even by alkaliphiles that are mesophiles from environments that are not esp ecially Na+-rich. This indicates that these bacteria indeed experience a low Delta p, to which such coupling is an adaptation. Possible reas ons and mechanisms for using a H+-coupled rather than a Na+-coupled AT P synthase under such circumstances will be discussed.