Streptomycetes and anaerobic stress survival

Abstract

Despite not having evolved to grow anaerobically, Streptomyces coelicolor can nevertheless survive long periods of oxygen deprivation, apparently by metabolically ?ticking over?. Remarkably, this survival strategy has not been adopted by all streptomycetes. Streptomycetes are ubiquitous, filamentous gram-positive soil bacteria that have had a major impact in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. The complex nature of soil means that streptomycetes have had to evolve a broad range of metabolic pathways to enable them to survive in this variable environment.