Transcription of [FeFe]-Hydrogenase Genes during H Production in Clostridium and Desulfovibrio spp. Isolated from a Paddy Field Soil.

Changes in the relative abundances of the transcripts of hydA gene paralogs for [FeFe]-hydrogenase in Clostridium sp. strain H2 and Desulfovibrio sp. strain A1 isolated from paddy field soil were analyzed during H production. Strains H2 and A1 had at least five and two phylogenetically different hydA genes, respectively. The relative abundances of their hydA transcripts differed among the paralogs and H production activity changed in a manner that depended on the growth phase and conditions. Increases or decreases in the relative abundances of the transcripts of two out of five hydA genes in strain H2 correlated with changes in H production rates, whereas those of the others remained unchanged or decreased. In strain A1, the relative abundances of the transcripts of two hydA genes differed between monoculture, sulfate-reducing, and syntrophic, methanogenic conditions. The relative abundance of the transcripts of one hydA gene, predicted to encode a cytosolic [FeFe]-hydrogenase, was higher under syntrophic, methanogenic conditions than sulfate-reducing conditions, while that of the transcripts of the other hydA gene decreased with time under both conditions. This study showed that the transcription of the hydA gene during growth with active H production was differently regulated among the paralogs in H producers isolated from paddy field soil.