Article
Microbiology
Eve A. Maunders, Katherine Ganio, Andrew J. Hayes, Stephanie L. Neville, Mark R. Davies, Richard A. Strugnell, Christopher A. McDevitt, Aimee Tan
Summary: This study revealed the critical role of the P-type ATPase ZntA in maintaining bacterial metal homeostasis and resisting extracellular zinc stress in Klebsiella pneumoniae.
MICROBIOLOGY SPECTRUM
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Soo-Yeon Cho, Soo-Jin Jung, Kyoung-Dong Kim, Jung-Hye Roe
Summary: The non-mitochondrial aconitase protein Aco2 in fission yeast plays a crucial role in mRNA turnover and iron homeostasis regulation in the nucleus and cytoplasm, by regulating the mRNAs encoding iron uptake transporters to fine-tune iron balance.
JOURNAL OF MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Microbiology
Madeline S. Akbari, Kelly S. Doran, Lindsey R. Burcham
Summary: Metal homeostasis plays a crucial role in the world of streptococci, allowing them to adapt to diverse host environments and maintain metal balance through sophisticated systems.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jiang Bian, Lingyun Wang, Jie Wu, Nathan Simth, Lingzhi Zhang, Yuanfeng Wang, Xiaobin Wu
Summary: The study reveals the important role of the MTM1 gene in regulating zinc homeostasis in yeast cells by changing zinc uptake and distribution. Knockout of MTM1 leads to increased zinc tolerance in cells due to reduced zinc uptake. Additionally, deletion of MTM1 affects the expression levels of other zinc metabolism-related genes, contributing to altered sensitivity to zinc.
JOURNAL OF TRACE ELEMENTS IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Verena Liedschulte, James Nicolas Duncan Battey, Samuel Kleinhans, Lucien Bovet, Simon Goepfert
Summary: The study demonstrates that tobacco plants with reduced zinc levels exhibit accumulation of phosphorus, iron, manganese, and copper in their leaves, as well as stunted growth. Transcriptional analysis reveals local zinc deficiency and FIT1-mediated iron deficiency responses in leaves. Additionally, a phosphate-starvation response and upregulation of aquaporin genes are associated with the abnormal growth phenotype in affected plants.
Article
Plant Sciences
Xiaoyan Zou, Rui Huang, Linjie Wang, Guihua Wang, Ye Miao, Idupulapati Rao, Guodao Liu, Zhijian Chen
Summary: This study identified SgNramp genes in Stylosanthes guianensis and found that SgNramp1 is responsible for manganese uptake in stylo. The study provides important insights into the function of the Nramp gene family in plants.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Julia E. Martin, Lauren S. Waters
Summary: Manganese plays a crucial role in the survival of pathogenic and symbiotic bacteria, as well as in the growth of free-living bacteria in stressful environments. Recent research has identified key components of the bacterial Mn homeostasis systems and revealed how Mn is used inside the cell. Understanding the regulatory mechanisms and interactions with other metals provides valuable insights for understanding bacterial virulence and survival strategies.
FRONTIERS IN MOLECULAR BIOSCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Changxu Pang, Jin Chai, Ping Zhu, John Shanklin, Qun Liu
Summary: A cryo-electron microscopy structure of a ZIP-family transporter from Bordetella bronchiseptica reveals its inhibition mechanism and negative regulation of zinc uptake through sensing intracellular zinc ion levels.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Changlong Chen, Shuang Cui, Jiantao Guan, Yanyan Su, Xucong Liang, Yu Tian, Hua Xie
Summary: In this study, it was found that the zinc-uptake-regulator (Zur) protein in P. odoriferum acts as a negative regulator of virulence and may function through a dual mechanism dependent on dose.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ilya V. Seregin, Anna D. Kozhevnikova
Summary: This review summarizes the current knowledge on the biosynthesis and regulation of Nicotianamine (NA), as well as its role in detoxification and transport of various metals in plants. The mechanisms of NA secretion by plant roots, intracellular transport of NA and its complexes with metals, and its involvement in metal tolerance are discussed. The study of metal-binding compounds is of interdisciplinary significance, both in terms of their effects on metal toxicity in plants and the development of biofortification approaches to improve metal contents in agricultural plants.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Review
Plant Sciences
Stephan Clemens
Summary: Nearly 10% of plant proteins belong to the zinc proteome and require zinc as a catalyst or structural element, with the majority of protein-bound zinc in eukaryotic cells found in the cytosol. Various metabolites and peptides serve as zinc buffers to supply zinc to enzymes, transporters, or sensor proteins, with zinc acquisition mediated by specific proteins and zinc transportation controlled by different mechanisms. Recent studies in mammalian cells have revealed the regulatory roles of zinc in modulating cellular zinc pools and influencing protein interactions and signaling cascade activities.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
(2022)
Review
Plant Sciences
Xiaoning Fan, Xiaoqin Zhou, Hui Chen, Ming Tang, Xianan Xie
Summary: This review explores the biochemical and physiological interactions between macro- and micro-mineral nutrients in plants, focusing on the cross-talks between N, Pi, S, Zn, and Fe uptake and homeostasis. The molecular mechanisms underlying these interactions in plants are still not well understood, highlighting the importance of further studies in this area for sustainable agriculture. The integrative study of multiple nutrient signaling cross-talks in plants is deemed crucial for better understanding mineral uptake and signaling in plants.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Emma Sevilla, M. Teresa Bes, M. Luisa Peleato, Maria F. Fillat
Summary: Proteins belonging to the FUR family, aside from the canonical Fur paralog, play crucial roles in bacterial metabolism, stress defenses, and host-pathogen interactions. Members such as Zur, Irr, BosR, and PerR are essential for virulence, while Nur and Mur contribute significantly to controlling nickel and manganese homeostasis. The diversity in coregulatory metals and action mechanisms of these proteins set them apart from the canonical Fur paralog.
ARCHIVES OF BIOCHEMISTRY AND BIOPHYSICS
(2021)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Alyssa L. Carlson, Jaime Carrazco-Carrillo, Aaron Loder, Lobna Elkhadragy, Kyle M. Schachtschneider, Teresita Padilla-Benavides
Summary: Copper plays a significant role in the development of cancer, particularly in cell signaling, cell cycle progression, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, tumor growth, and metastasis. Traditional cancer cell lines and mouse models have limitations when extrapolating to humans, but larger animal models like pigs, which share more similarities in genetics, anatomical structures, organ sizes, and disease manifestations, are emerging as ideal tools for cancer research and drug development. The Oncopig Cancer Model, which develops specific tumors, provides a better understanding of the mechanisms and causal relationships between copper and molecular targets involved in cancer.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Arun T. John Peter, Sabine N. S. van Schie, Ngaam J. Cheung, Agnes H. Michel, Matthias Peter, Benoit Kornmann
Summary: The membrane lipid composition of eukaryotic cells varies among different organelles. This study focuses on simplifying and reorganizing yeast phospholipid synthesis by redirecting synthesis reactions to specific subcellular locations. Through genetic screening, genes involved in lipid homeostasis, metabolism, and transport were identified, with a particular focus on the requirement for Csf1 in interorganelle lipid transport and homeostatic adaptation.
Article
Plant Sciences
Viviana Escudero, Dario Ferreira Sanchez, Isidro Abreu, Sara Sopena-Torres, Natalia Makarovsky-Saavedra, Maria Bernal, Ute Kramer, Daniel Grolimund, Manuel Gonzalez-Guerrero, Lucia Jorda
Summary: Zinc plays a role in resistance to PcBMM infection in plants with ordinary zinc levels, and its accumulation is associated with up-regulation of HEAVY METAL ATPASE2 and HEAVY METAL ATPASE4 expression, enhancing resistance.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
(2022)
Review
Plant Sciences
Stephan Clemens
Summary: Nearly 10% of plant proteins belong to the zinc proteome and require zinc as a catalyst or structural element, with the majority of protein-bound zinc in eukaryotic cells found in the cytosol. Various metabolites and peptides serve as zinc buffers to supply zinc to enzymes, transporters, or sensor proteins, with zinc acquisition mediated by specific proteins and zinc transportation controlled by different mechanisms. Recent studies in mammalian cells have revealed the regulatory roles of zinc in modulating cellular zinc pools and influencing protein interactions and signaling cascade activities.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
(2022)
Review
Plant Sciences
Ana G. L. Assuncao, Ismail Cakmak, Stephan Clemens, Manuel Gonzalez-Guerrero, Adam Nawrocki, Sebastien Thomine
Summary: This review highlights the importance of plant micronutrient homeostasis for healthy nutrition and sustainable agriculture. Providing sustainable and nutritious food for the growing population is a major challenge. Micronutrient deficiencies adversely affect crop production, nutritional value, and human health. The review calls for awareness on the relevance of micronutrients in crop production and quality, emphasizing the need for better micronutrient nutrition in human populations.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Camilla Stanton, Dale Sanders, Ute Kraemer, Dorina Podar
Summary: This article reviews the current understanding of zinc homeostasis in plants, focusing on the balance between zinc supply and nutritional requirements in soil, as well as the importance of zinc for plant and human health.
Article
Plant Sciences
Julia Quintana, Maria Bernal, Marleen Scholle, Heike Hollaender-Czytko, Nga T. Nguyen, Markus Piotrowski, David G. Mendoza-Cozatl, Michael J. Haydon, Ute Kraemer
Summary: The study reveals a second role of IRT1 in root-to-shoot partitioning of iron in Arabidopsis thaliana, in addition to its primary function in high-affinity iron uptake in roots. Mutations in IRT1 lead to iron overaccumulation in roots, highlighting a new aspect of IRT1's involvement in iron homeostasis. Furthermore, findings suggest a regulatory function for IRT1 in iron mobilization that is independent of its transport activity.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Shimpei Uraguchi, Yuka Ohshiro, Yuto Otsuka, Emiko Wada, Fumii Naruse, Kakeru Sugaya, Kenichiro Nagai, Arunee Wongkaew, Ryosuke Nakamura, Yasukazu Takanezawa, Stephan Clemens, Naoko Ohkama-Ohtsu, Masako Kiyono
Summary: An organomercurial phenylmercury activates the enzyme AtPCS1 to induce metal-chelating peptides phytochelatins for detoxification of phenylmercury in Arabidopsis. The AtPCS1-mediated synthesis of PCs, complex formation, and vacuolar sequestration by AtABCC1 and AtABCC2 are similarly functional for detoxifying both PheHg and Hg(II) in root surficial cell types.
PLANT MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Emmanuel Tergemina, Ahmed F. Elfarargi, Paulina Flis, Andrea Fulgione, Mehmet Goektay, Celia Neto, Marleen Scholle, Padraic J. Flood, Sophie-Asako Xerri, Johan Zicola, Nina Doering, Herculano Dinis, Ute Kraemer, David E. Salt, Angela M. Hancock
Summary: This study demonstrates a two-step evolutionary process in which nutrient homeostasis was rewired to adapt to extremely low soil manganese conditions. A variant disrupting the iron uptake transporter gene quickly became fixed in the population, increasing manganese but limiting iron in the leaves. Multiple independent gene duplications then compensated for the loss of the iron transporter gene, improving iron homeostasis. This research provides a clear example of a multilocus adaptive walk and sheds light on how genetic variants reshape phenotypes and spread over space and time.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Erik Pischke, Fabrizio Barozzi, Andrea E. Colina Blanco, Carolin F. Kerl, Britta Planer-Friedrich, Stephan Clemens
Summary: Arsenic is a significant environmental pollutant and human health threat, and different forms of arsenic are present in soil pore waters. Among the organic thioarsenates, DMMTA has been found to be more toxic than arsenite in mammalian cells, leading to deformation of root epidermal cells and inhibition of plant growth. DMMTA is efficiently taken up by plants and is highly mobile within them.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Britta Planer-Friedrich, Carolin F. Kerl, Andrea E. Colina Blanco, Stephan Clemens
Summary: The occurrence of arsenic in rice poses a serious threat to human health. Current regulations only limit carcinogenic inorganic arsenic, while possibly carcinogenic dimethylated thioarsenates are not regulated. More sophisticated methods or regulation of total arsenic should be implemented to accurately assess the toxicity of rice-derived dimethylated thioarsenates.
JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Anna Schulten, Bjoern Pietzenuk, Julia Quintana, Marleen Scholle, Regina Feil, Marcus Krause, Maida Romera-Branchat, Vanessa Wahl, Edouard Severing, George Coupland, Ute Kraemer
Summary: Copper is crucial for energy production and carbon fixation in Arabidopsis, and SPL7 is a transcription factor involved in the response to copper deficiency. In this study, it was found that SPL7 mutants are unable to translate sugar levels into growth and development under copper-deficient conditions, and therefore cannot be stimulated by exogenous sugar supplementation.
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Christoph H. R. Senges, Helen L. Warmuth, Melissa Vazquez-Hernandez, Huriye Deniz Uzun, Leonie Sagurna, Pascal Dietze, Claudia Schmidt, Brix Muecher, Stefan Herlitze, Ute Kraemer, Ingo Ott, Thomas Gunther Pomorski, Julia E. Bandow
Summary: Ionophores are small molecules or peptides that transport metal ions across biological membranes. In this study, the effects of the semisynthetic polyether ionophore 4-Br-A23187 on the model organism Bacillus subtilis were investigated. The treatment led to an increase in intracellular copper levels and a decrease in intracellular manganese and magnesium, which resulted in oxidative stress and disturbance of proteostasis. A liposome model confirmed the ionophore's role as a copper transporter in vitro.
Review
Engineering, Environmental
Xue Liu, Yongwang Ju, Saglara Mandzhieva, David Pinskii, Tatiana Minkina, Vishnu D. Rajput, Timberley Roane, Shuangqin Huang, Lena Q. Ma, Yuanping Li, Stephan Clemens, Christopher Rensing
Summary: Recent research has shown that plants can accumulate high levels of lead under specific soil conditions. This review provides a comprehensive understanding of the sources and transformations of lead in soil, the interaction between lead and bacteria, the factors and mechanisms of lead uptake and accumulation in plants, and the toxicity of lead to living organisms. The adsorption and post-adsorption transformations of lead in soil are the main factors that affect its mobility, bioavailability, and toxicity. The ability of lead to be adsorbed largely depends on the composition and properties of the soil and environmental conditions. The impact of microbes on the mobility and bioavailability of lead in soil, as well as bacterial resistance to lead, are also discussed. Specific mechanisms of lead resistance in bacteria, such as Pb-efflux, siderophores, and EPS, have been identified. The pathways and mechanisms of lead entry and transport in plants are not well understood, although it is believed that calcium transporters, organic acids, and the phytochelatin pathway may play a role in lead transport, mobility, and detoxification.
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Rocky Putra, Max Toelle, Ute Kraemer, Caroline Mueller
Summary: Soil pollution by metals and metalloids due to industrialization has a detrimental effect on ecosystems. Certain plant species called hyperaccumulators can accumulate high concentrations of these metals and metalloids in their aboveground tissues, acting as a defense against various antagonists. This study investigates the effects of metal(loid)s on defense traits in the hyperaccumulator plant species Arabidopsis halleri by artificially amending the soil with cadmium and zinc, and supplementing with silicon. The results show significant effects of metal amendment and silicon supplementation on foliar concentrations of certain elements, as well as on organic and mechanical defenses.
Article
Plant Sciences
Camilla Stanton, Jorge Rodriguez-Celma, Ute Kramer, Dale Sanders, Janneke Balk
Summary: Mutation of two E3 ligases that suppress iron uptake in roots also confers tolerance to zinc toxicity, identifying a regulatory point of interaction between iron and zinc homeostasis. Loss of function of BTSL1 and BTSL2, which encode E3 ubiquitin ligases, leads to Arabidopsis thaliana having tolerance to excess zinc. These mutants have similar zinc accumulation as the wild type, but lower iron accumulation in roots.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Daniela Strenkert, Stefan Schmollinger, Yuntao Hu, Christian Hofmann, Kristen Holbrook, Helen W. Liu, Samuel O. Purvine, Carrie D. Nicora, Si Chen, Mary S. Lipton, Trent R. Northen, Stephan Clemens, Sabeeha S. Merchant
Summary: In zinc-limited conditions, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii accumulates excess copper due to disruption of copper homeostasis, which is controlled by the balance of copper import and export. Transcriptional and proteomic analyses revealed up-regulation of genes involved in sulfur assimilation in zinc-limited cells, leading to increased intracellular sulfur levels and synthesis of cysteine. Interestingly, glutathione and phytochelatins, common sulfur-containing metal binding ligands, did not increase. X-ray fluorescence microscopy demonstrated accumulation of sulfur in zinc-limited cells, co-localizing with copper, phosphorus, and calcium in the acidocalcisome. Cells starved for copper did not accumulate sulfur or cysteine, suggesting a causal connection between cysteine synthesis and copper accumulation. These findings suggest that cysteine may serve as an in vivo Cu(I) ligand for buffering cytosolic copper.