Energy Conservation via Hydrogen Cycling in the Methanogenic Archaeon Methanosarcina barkeri

Energy conservation via hydrogen cycling, which generates proton motive force by intracellular H(2) production coupled to extracellular consumption, has been controversial since it was first proposed in 1981. It was hypothesized that the methanogenic archaeon Methanosarcina barkeri is capable of energy conservation via H(2) cycling, based on genetic data that suggest that H(2) is a preferred, but nonessential, intermediate in the electron transport chain of this organism. Here, we characterize a series of hydrogenase mutants to provide direct evidence of H(2) cycling. M. barkeri produces H(2) during growth on methanol, a phenotype that is lost upon mutation of the cytoplasmic hydrogenase encoded by frhADGB, although low levels of H(2), attributable to the Ech hydrogenase, accumulate during stationary phase. In contrast, mutations that conditionally inactivate the extracellular Vht hydrogenase are lethal when expression of the vhtGACD operon is repressed. Under these conditions, H(2) accumulates, with concomitant cessation of methane production and subsequent cell lysis, suggesting that the inability to recapture extracellular H(2) is responsible for the lethal phenotype. Consistent with this interpretation, double mutants that lack both Vht and Frh are viable. Thus, when intracellular hydrogen production is abrogated, loss of extracellular H(2) consumption is no longer lethal. The common occurrence of both intracellular and extracellular hydrogenases in anaerobic microorganisms suggests that this unusual mechanism of energy conservation may be widespread in nature.