title: Mechanisms of acid tolerance in bacteria and prospects in biotechnology and bioremediation.
abstract: Acidogenic and aciduric bacteria have developed several survival systems in various acidic environments to prevent cell damage due to acid stress such as that on the human gastric surface and in the fermentation medium used for industrial production of acidic products. Common mechanisms for acid resistance in bacteria are proton pumping by F1-F0-ATPase, the glutamate decarboxylase system, formation of a protective cloud of ammonia, high cytoplasmic urease activity, repair or protection of macromolecules, and biofilm formation. The field of synthetic biology has rapidly advanced and generated an ever-increasing assortment of genetic devices and biological modules for applications in biofuel and novel biomaterial productions. Better understanding of aspects such as overproduction of general shock proteins, molecular mechanisms, and responses to cell density adopted by microorganisms for survival in low pH conditions will prove useful in synthetic biology for potential industrial and environmental applications.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People's Republic of China; School of Life Sciences & Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yuping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People's Republic of China; School of Life Sciences & Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: tanghongzhi@sjtu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Hongzhi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, One Tsinghua Garden Road, Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhanglin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People's Republic of China; School of Life Sciences & Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: pingxu@sjtu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000143:Acids; D001419:Bacteria / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D001709:Biotechnology; D005968:Glutamate Decarboxylase; D006180:Proton-Translocating ATPases; D058615:Synthetic Biology
chemical_list: D000143:Acids; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D006180:Proton-Translocating ATPases; D005968:Glutamate Decarboxylase
keywords: Acid resistance; F(1)–F(0)–ATPase; Glutamate decarboxylase; Macromolecule; Synthetic biology