Previous Article | Next Article 
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2000, p. 4972-4978, Vol. 66, No. 11
Department of Microbiology and Immunology,
McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2B4, Canada
Received 16 December 1999/Accepted 31 May 2000
Selenium is both an essential and a toxic trace element, and the
range of concentrations between the two is extremely narrow. Although
tellurium is not essential and is only rarely found in the environment,
it is considered to be extremely toxic. Several hypotheses have been
proposed to account for the toxic effects of selenite and tellurite.
However, these potential mechanisms have yet to be fully substantiated.
Through screening of an Escherichia coli luxAB
transcriptional gene fusion library, we identified a clone whose
luminescence increased in the presence of increasing concentrations of
sodium selenite or sodium tellurite. Cloning and sequencing of the
luxAB junction revealed that the fusion had occurred in a
previously uncharacterized open reading frame, termed o393
or yhfC, which we have now designated gutS, for
gene up-regulated by tellurite and selenite. Transcription from
gutS in the presence of selenite or tellurite was confirmed
by RNA dot blot analysis. In vivo expression of the GutS polypeptide, using the pET expression system, revealed a polypeptide of
approximately 43 kDa, in good agreement with its predicted molecular
mass. Although the function of GutS remains to be elucidated, homology
searches as well as protein motif and secondary-structure analyses have provided clues which may implicate GutS in transport in response to
selenite and tellurite.
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
A Novel Selenite- and Tellurite-Inducible Gene in
Escherichia coli
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Microbiology and Immunology, McGill University, 3775 University St., Montreal, Quebec H3A 2B4, Canada. Phone: (514) 398-3926. Fax: (514)
398-7052. E-mail: msdubow{at}microimm.mcgill.ca.
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2000, p. 4972-4978, Vol. 66, No. 11
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
This article has been cited by other articles:
-
Fuentes, D. E., Fuentes, E. L., Castro, M. E., Perez, J. M., Araya, M. A., Chasteen, T. G., Pichuantes, S. E., Vasquez, C. C.
(2007). Cysteine Metabolism-Related Genes and Bacterial Resistance to Potassium Tellurite. J. Bacteriol.
189: 8953-8960
[Abstract] [Full Text] -
Baesman, S. M., Bullen, T. D., Dewald, J., Zhang, D., Curran, S., Islam, F. S., Beveridge, T. J., Oremland, R. S.
(2007). Formation of Tellurium Nanocrystals during Anaerobic Growth of Bacteria That Use Te Oxyanions as Respiratory Electron Acceptors. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
73: 2135-2143
[Abstract] [Full Text] -
Lohmeier-Vogel, E. M., Ung, S., Turner, R. J.
(2004). In Vivo 31P Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Investigation of Tellurite Toxicity in Escherichia coli. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
70: 7342-7347
[Abstract] [Full Text] -
Bebien, M., Kirsch, J., Mejean, V., Vermeglio, A.
(2002). Involvement of a putative molybdenum enzyme in the reduction of selenate by Escherichia coli. Microbiology
148: 3865-3872
[Abstract] [Full Text] -
Bebien, M., Chauvin, J.-P., Adriano, J.-M., Grosse, S., Vermeglio, A.
(2001). Effect of Selenite on Growth and Protein Synthesis in the Phototrophic Bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
67: 4440-4447
[Abstract] [Full Text]
Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology. For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»