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In Vivo Water Dynamics in Shewanella oneidensis Bacteria at High Pressure.

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Abstract

Following observations of survival of microbes and other life forms in deep subsurface environments it is necessary to understand their biological functioning under high pressure conditions. Key aspects of biochemical reactions and transport processes within cells are determined by the intracellular water dynamics. We studied water diffusion and rotational relaxation in live Shewanella oneidensis bacteria at pressures up to 500?MPa using quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS). The intracellular diffusion exhibits a significantly greater slowdown (by -10-30%) and an increase in rotational relaxation times (+10-40%) compared with water dynamics in the aqueous solutions used to resuspend the bacterial samples. Those results indicate both a pressure-induced viscosity increase and slowdown in ionic/macromolecular transport properties within the cells affecting the rates of metabolic and other biological processes. Our new data support emerging models for intracellular organisation with nanoscale water channels threading between macromolecular regions within a dynamically organized structure rather than a homogenous gel-like cytoplasm.

Acceptance Date May 15, 2019
Publication Date Jun 18, 2019
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Scientific Reports
Print ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher Nature Publishing Group
Pages 8716 -?
DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-44704-3
Publisher URL http://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-44704-3

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