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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2000, p. 10-14, Vol. 66, No. 1
Department of Microbiology, Technical
University of Denmark, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark
Received 2 August 1999/Accepted 10 October 1999
Type 1 fimbriae are surface organelles of Escherichia
coli. By engineering a structural component of the fimbriae,
FimH, to display a random peptide library, we were able to isolate
metal-chelating bacteria. A library consisting of 4 × 107 independent clones was screened for binding to ZnO.
Sequences responsible for ZnO adherence were identified, and distinct
binding motifs were characterized. The sequences selected exhibited
various degrees of affinity and specificity towards ZnO. Competitive
binding experiments revealed that the sequences recognized only the
oxide form of Zn. Interestingly, one of the inserts exhibited
significant homology to a specific sequence in a putative
zinc-containing helicase, which suggests that searches such as this one
may aid in identifying binding motifs in nature. The zinc-binding
bacteria might have a use in detoxification of metal-polluted water.
0099-2240/0/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Sequestration of Zinc Oxide by Fimbrial
Designer Chelators
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Microbiology, Bldg. 301, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800
Lyngby, Denmark. Phone: 45 45 25 25 06. Fax: 45 45 93 28 09. E-mail:
impk{at}pop.dtu.dk.
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