You can manage bookmarks using lists, please log in to your user account for this.
Media type:
E-Article
Title:
A single sensor controls large variations in zinc quotas in a marine cyanobacterium
Contributor:
Mikhaylina, Alevtina;
Ksibe, Amira Z.;
Wilkinson, Rachael C.;
Smith, Darbi;
Marks, Eleanor;
Coverdale, James P. C.;
Fülöp, Vilmos;
Scanlan, David J.;
Blindauer, Claudia A.
Published:
Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2022
Published in:
Nature Chemical Biology, 18 (2022) 8, Seite 869-877
Language:
English
DOI:
10.1038/s41589-022-01051-1
ISSN:
1552-4450;
1552-4469
Origination:
Footnote:
Description:
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Marine cyanobacteria are critical players in global nutrient cycles that crucially depend on trace metals in metalloenzymes, including zinc for CO<jats:sub>2</jats:sub> fixation and phosphorus acquisition. How strains proliferating in the vast oligotrophic ocean gyres thrive at ultra-low zinc concentrations is currently unknown. Using <jats:italic>Synechococcus</jats:italic> sp. WH8102 as a model we show that its zinc-sensor protein Zur differs from all other known bacterial Zur proteins in overall structure and the location of its sensory zinc site. Uniquely, <jats:italic>Synechococcus</jats:italic> Zur activates metallothionein gene expression, which supports cellular zinc quotas spanning two orders of magnitude. Thus, a single zinc sensor facilitates growth across pico- to micromolar zinc concentrations with the bonus of banking this precious resource. The resultant ability to grow well at both ultra-low and excess zinc, together with overall lower zinc requirements, likely contribute to the broad ecological distribution of <jats:italic>Synechococcus</jats:italic> across the global oceans.</jats:p>