''Rhodococcus erythropolis'' is a bacterium species in the genus ''
Rhodococcus
''Rhodococcus'' is a genus of aerobic, nonsporulating, nonmotile Gram-positive bacteria closely related to ''Mycobacterium'' and ''Corynebacterium''. While a few species are pathogenic, most are benign, and have been found to thrive in a broad ...
''. It is
Gram-positive. ''R. erythropolis'' has been isolated from the air of the Russian Space Laboratory
Mir along with a large number of other microorganisms that steadily accumulated during the lifespan of the station.
''Rhodococcus'' bacteria are known to degrade
organic compound
In chemistry, organic compounds are generally any chemical compounds that contain carbon-hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds. Due to carbon's ability to catenate (form chains with other carbon atoms), millions of organic compounds are known. The ...
s contained in the rubber used aboard the space station with specialized
enzymes
Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecule ...
.
This can lead to degradation of critical components and necessitates replacement of the parts or preventive measures dealing with microbial contamination.
References
Further reading
*
*
*Kuhad, Ramesh Chander, and Ajay Singh. Biotechnology for Environmental Management and Resource Recovery. Springer, 2013.
*Dworkin, Martin, and Stanley Falkow, eds. The Prokaryotes: Vol. 3: Archaea. Bacteria: Firmicutes, Actinomycetes. Vol. 3. Springer, 2006.
*Sneath, Peter HA, et al. Bergey's manual of systematic bacteriology. Volume 5. Williams & Wilkins, 1986.
*Alvarez, Héctor M. Biology of ''Rhodococcus''. Vol. 16. Springer, 2010.
External links
*
LPSNType strain of ''Rhodococcus baikonurensis'' at Bac''Dive'' - the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase
Mycobacteriales
Bacteria described in 2004
{{actinobacteria-stub