A hydrogen chloride pump in extremophilic eubacteria

A hydrogen chloride pump in extremophilic eubacteria | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Biological Sciences - Article A hydrogen chloride pump in extremophilic eubacteria Michael Palmgren This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8743159/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Acidophilic chemolithoautotrophs drive the bioleaching processes used to extract valuable metals from ores. These microorganisms thrive at extremely low pH through poorly understood mechanisms, yet remain sensitive to permeable anions such as chloride. Here, we identify and characterize P-type plasma membrane H⁺-ATPases (P3A ATPases) from Acidithiobacillus ferridurans and Geobacter metallireducens as H+/Cl− symporters − the first known primary active biological systems to export anions. This previously unrecognized ion-pumping mechanism, found to be widespread among extremophilic prokaryotes, reveals a fundamental strategy by which extremophiles achieve acid and anion tolerance. Harnessing these hydrogen chloride pumps could improve bioleaching efficiency and enable more sustainable metal recovery technologies. Biological sciences/Biophysics/Permeation and transport Biological sciences/Microbiology/Bacteria/Bacterial secretion Biological sciences/Biochemistry/Ion channels chloride pump electrogenicity evolution H+-ATPase membrane energization plasma membrane proton pump symporter Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files ClHpumpsSupplementaryTable1.pdf Supplementary Table 1 ClHpumpsSupplementaryTable2.xlsx.pdf Supplementary Table 2 Supplementaryfigures.pdf Supplementary Figures Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8743159","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Biological Sciences - Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":587089121,"identity":"f378b3b3-3bdb-4c97-b5a4-12e30a53b662","order_by":0,"name":"Michael Palmgren","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA4UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFAC5gYwxQ9hJABxGiEtjBAtkg2MpGoxOECsFnP2g60bv+6xyTO+3dj4uIAhLbGBPS0BrxbLnsS22zLP0orN7hxsNp7BkJPYwPPsAF4tBgeAWiQOHE7cdiOxTZqHoSKxQSK9Ab+W8w9BWv4nbp6R2P6bOC1Aw29+OHAgcYNEYhszD8hhEmn4HWY5A2gLw4HkxBlAv0jzGKQZt/E8S8CrxZw/+djNHwfsEvtnNx/8zFORLNvPnmaA32FADHQPEEhAuWx41UO1MP6AaxkFo2AUjIJRgAUAAHEPUCJI0P/aAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9982-6114","institution":"University of Copenhagen","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Michael","middleName":"","lastName":"Palmgren","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-30 16:12:34","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8743159/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8743159/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":102300422,"identity":"4aa808d4-45e7-421d-8898-27c0c0122016","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-10 11:14:23","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1968390,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"Manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8743159/v1_covered_17d1f1d8-2f94-4ce7-af8b-4d755b1acc4d.pdf"},{"id":102182477,"identity":"6870199b-0a01-4200-99e0-efa0f39b207a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-09 07:35:46","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":606847,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Supplementary Table 1","description":"","filename":"ClHpumpsSupplementaryTable1.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8743159/v1/2c6b72d1ed2688c5e1a08070.pdf"},{"id":102296946,"identity":"3bfd3d5c-85ad-459a-815e-52c6cedb66f4","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-10 10:23:11","extension":"pdf","order_by":2,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":202437,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Supplementary Table 2","description":"","filename":"ClHpumpsSupplementaryTable2.xlsx.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8743159/v1/186b7fb08e265f71b6c41021.pdf"},{"id":102182479,"identity":"a5cc7b85-0a12-4236-b1f7-d8922b905fae","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-09 07:35:46","extension":"pdf","order_by":3,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":2898527,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Supplementary Figures","description":"","filename":"Supplementaryfigures.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8743159/v1/a5bee5f2c4f08268458510a1.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"A hydrogen chloride pump in extremophilic eubacteria","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"chloride pump, electrogenicity, evolution, H+-ATPase, membrane energization, plasma membrane, proton pump, symporter","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8743159/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8743159/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Acidophilic chemolithoautotrophs drive the bioleaching processes used to extract valuable metals from ores. 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