Sodium Sulfite as a Novel Hypoxia Revulsant Involved in Hypoxic Regulation in Escherichia coli

As a reducing salt, sodium sulfite could deprive oxygen in solution, which could mimic hypoxic stress in . In this study, the wild-type strain MG1655 was used to examine the inhibition of sodium sulfite-induced hypoxia by observing the bacterial growth curves. We also analyzed the growth curves of mutant strains (for , , , and ) related to hypoxic pathways to reveal roles of the related genes during hypoxia. The ultrastructure of hypoxia-inhibited bacteria were also observed using transmission electron microscopy. Sodium sulfite could maintain hypoxic condition of bacterial culture for 8 h with concentrations over 40 mmol/L. Complete ultrastructure of the bacteria indicated sodium sulfite did inhibit bacterial growth and division. Among the hypoxia genes, and played key roles in sodium sulfite-induced hypoxia. This study showed that sodium sulfite could be used as a novel hypoxia revulsant for bacterial cultures.