Mitigation of Hyper KCl Stress at 42ºC with Externally Existing Sodium Glutamate to a Halotolerant <i>Brevibacterium</i> sp. JCM 6894

Abstract

Halotolerant Brevibacterium sp. JCM 6894 grew at 37ºC in the presence of 2.3 M KCl, while the growth was repressed with the same concentration of NaCl. When resting cells, 107.4 ± 0.1 (CFU·mL-1), prepared from cells grown in the absence of salts at 30ºC, were exposed to 3.3 M NaCl for 36 h at 42ºC, reduction of the number of resting cells was maintained within a 1-log cycle in the presence of proline, betaine, or ectoine (50 mM). In the presence of 3.3 M KCl, the most functional osmoprotectant was sodium glutamate (50 mM), and the value was 107.2 ± 0.1 (CFU·mL-1) when exposed for 72 h at 42ºC. In the absence of osmoprotectants, the value was reduced to four orders of magnitude in each experimental condition. The number of resting cells, 106.8 ± 0.1 (CFU·mL-1), prepared from grown cells pre-adapted to 2.3 M KCl at 37ºC, was hardly reduced when exposed to 3.3 M KCl in the presence of sodium glutamate more than 50 mM for 72 h at 42ºC. Those results indicate that the isolate can sense the difference in hyper KCl stress as opposed to hyper NaCl stress, and different kinds of osmoadaptation systems can function to cope with each hyper salt stress.