Dehalococcoides mccartyi strains are corrinoid-auxotrophic Bacteria and axenic cultures that require vitamin B ₁₂ (CN-Cbl) to conserve energy via organohalide respiration. Cultures of D. mccartyi strains BAV1, GT and FL2 grown with limiting amounts of 1 µg l ⁻¹ CN-Cbl quickly depleted CN-Cbl, and reductive dechlorination of polychlorinated ethenes was incomplete leading to vinyl chloride (VC) accumulation. In contrast, the same cultures amended with 25 µg l ⁻¹ CN-Cbl exhibited up to 2.3-fold higher dechlorination rates, 2.8–9.1-fold increased growth yields, and completely consumed growth-supporting chlorinated ethenes. To explore whether known cobamide-producing microbes supply Dehalococcoides with the required corrinoid cofactor, co-culture experiments were performed with the methanogen Methanosarcina barkeri strain Fusaro and two acetogens, Sporomusa ovata and Sporomusa sp. strain KB-1, as Dehalococcoides partner populations. During growth with H ₂ /CO ₂ , M. barkeri axenic cultures produced 4.2 ± 0.1 µg l ⁻¹ extracellular cobamide (factor III), whereas the Sporomusa cultures produced phenolyl- and p -cresolyl-cobamides. Neither factor III nor the phenolic cobamides supported Dehalococcoides reductive dechlorination activity suggesting that M. barkeri and the Sporomusa sp. cannot fulfil Dehalococcoides ' nutritional requirements. Dehalococcoides dechlorination activity and growth occurred in M. barkeri and Sporomusa sp. co-cultures amended with 10 µM 5′,6′-dimethylbenzimidazole (DMB), indicating that a cobalamin is a preferred corrinoid cofactor of strains BAV1, GT and FL2 when grown with chlorinated ethenes as electron acceptors. Even though the methanogen and acetogen populations tested did not produce cobalamin, the addition of DMB enabled guided biosynthesis and generated a cobalamin that supported Dehalococcoides ' activity and growth. Guided cobalamin biosynthesis may offer opportunities to sustain and enhance Dehalococcoides activity in contaminated subsurface environments.

Impaired ethanol metabolism can lead to various alcohol-related health problems. Key enzymes in ethanol metabolism are alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH); however, neuroendocrine pathways that regulate the activities of these enzymes are largely unexplored. Here we identified a neuroendocrine system involving Corazonin (Crz) neuropeptide and its receptor (CrzR) as important physiological regulators of ethanol metabolism in Drosophila. Crz-cell deficient (Crz-CD) flies displayed significantly delayed recovery from ethanol-induced sedation that we refer to as hangover-like phenotype. Newly generated mutant lacking Crz Receptor (CrzR⁰¹) and CrzR-knockdown flies showed even more severe hangover-like phenotype, which is causally associated with fast accumulation of acetaldehyde in the CrzR⁰¹ mutant following ethanol exposure. Higher levels of acetaldehyde are likely due to 30% reduced ALDH activity in the mutants. Moreover, increased ADH activity was found in the CrzR⁰¹ mutant, but not in the Crz-CD flies. Quantitative RT-PCR revealed transcriptional upregulation of Adh gene in the CrzR⁰¹. Transgenic inhibition of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) also results in significantly increased ADH activity and Adh mRNA levels, indicating PKA-dependent transcriptional regulation of Adh by CrzR. Furthermore, inhibition of PKA or cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) in CrzR cells leads to comparable hangover-like phenotype to the CrzR⁰¹ mutant. These findings suggest that CrzR-associated signaling pathway is critical for ethanol detoxification via Crz-dependent regulation of ALDH activity and Crz-independent transcriptional regulation of ADH. Our study provides new insights into the neuroendocrine-associated ethanol-related behavior and metabolism.