Identifying Bacteria Responsible for Non-Sulphate-Based Hydrogen Sulphide Production in Aquaculture

Alexandre Nguyen-Tiêt, Fernando Puente-Sánchez, Stefan Bertilsson, Sanni L Aalto*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Abstract

The unintended microbiological production of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) poses a significant challenge in engineered systems, including sewage treatment plants, landfills and aquaculture systems. Although sulphur-rich amino acids and other substrates conducive to non-sulphate-based H2S production are frequently present, the capacity and potential of various microorganisms to perform sulphate-free H2S production remain unclear. In this study, we identify the identity, activity and genomic characteristics of bacteria that degrade cysteine to produce H2S in anaerobic enrichment bioreactors seeded with material from aquaculture systems. Our comparison with canonical sulphate-reducing bacteria reveals that both sulphur sources contribute to microbial H2S production, with cysteine facilitating a more rapid process compared to sulphate. 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and metagenomic analysis identified four bacterial families-Dethiosulfatibacteraceae, Fusobacteriaceae, Vibrionaceae and Desulfovibrionaceae-as central to non-sulphate H2S production. Metagenome- and metatranscriptome-assembled genomes elucidated the primary cysteine degradation pathway mediated by cysteine desulphidase cyuA and indicated that some bacteria may also utilise cysteine as a carbon source in sulphate-based H2S production.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere70024
JournalEnvironmental Microbiology
Volume27
Issue number1
Number of pages16
ISSN1462-2912
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2025

Keywords

  • Amino acid fermentation
  • Cysteine desulphidase
  • cyuA
  • Hydrogen sulphide
  • yhaM

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