Magnetic resonance tells microbiology where to go; bacterial teichoic acid protects liquid water at sub-zero temperatures

Charles V. Rice; Jason R. Wickham; Margaret A. Eastman; William Harrison; Mark P. Pereira; Eric D. Brown

doi:10.1117/12.800899

28 August 2008 Magnetic resonance tells microbiology where to go; bacterial teichoic acid protects liquid water at sub-zero temperatures

Charles V. Rice, Jason R. Wickham, Margaret A. Eastman, William Harrison, Mark P. Pereira, Eric D. Brown

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7097, Instruments, Methods, and Missions for Astrobiology XI; 70970O (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.800899
Event: Optical Engineering + Applications, 2008, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Numerous chemical additives lower the freezing point of water, but life at sub-zero temperatures is sustained by a limited number of biological cryoprotectants. Antifreeze proteins in fish, plants, and insects provide protection to a few degrees below freezing. Microbes have been found to survive at even lower temperatures, although, with a few exceptions, antifreeze proteins are missing. Survival has been attributed to external factors, such as high salt concentration (brine veins) and adhesion to particulates or ice crystal defects. Teichoic acid is a phosphodiester polymer ubiquitous in Gram positive bacteria, composing 50% of the mass of the bacterial cell wall and excreted into the extracellular space of biofilm communities. We have found that when bound to the peptidoglycan cell wall (wall teichoic acid) or as a free molecule (lipoteichoic acid), teichoic acid is surrounded by liquid water at temperatures significantly below freezing. Using solid-state NMR, we are unable to collect ³¹P CPMAS spectra for frozen solutions of lipoteichoic acid at temperatures above -60 °C. For wall teichoic acid in D₂O, signals are not seen above -30 °C. These results can be explained by the presence of liquid water, which permits rapid molecular motion to remove ¹H/³¹P dipolar coupling. ²H quadrupole echo NMR spectroscopy reveals that both liquid and solid water are present. We suggest that teichoic acids could provide a shell of liquid water around biofilms and planktonic bacteria, removing the need for brine veins to prevent bacterial freezing.

Citation Download Citation

Charles V. Rice, Jason R. Wickham, Margaret A. Eastman, William Harrison, Mark P. Pereira, and Eric D. Brown "Magnetic resonance tells microbiology where to go; bacterial teichoic acid protects liquid water at sub-zero temperatures", Proc. SPIE 7097, Instruments, Methods, and Missions for Astrobiology XI, 70970O (28 August 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.800899

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