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Review
. 2014 Dec 9;4(4):865-86.
doi: 10.3390/life4040865.

Metals in cyanobacteria: analysis of the copper, nickel, cobalt and arsenic homeostasis mechanisms

María José Huertas  1 , Luis López-Maury  2 , Joaquín Giner-Lamia  3 , Ana María Sánchez-Riego  4 , Francisco Javier Florencio  5
Affiliations
Review

Metals in cyanobacteria: analysis of the copper, nickel, cobalt and arsenic homeostasis mechanisms

María José Huertas et al. Life (Basel). .

Abstract

Traces of metal are required for fundamental biochemical processes, such as photosynthesis and respiration. Cyanobacteria metal homeostasis acquires an important role because the photosynthetic machinery imposes a high demand for metals, making them a limiting factor for cyanobacteria, especially in the open oceans. On the other hand, in the last two centuries, the metal concentrations in marine environments and lake sediments have increased as a result of several industrial activities. In all cases, cells have to tightly regulate uptake to maintain their intracellular concentrations below toxic levels. Mechanisms to obtain metal under limiting conditions and to protect cells from an excess of metals are present in cyanobacteria. Understanding metal homeostasis in cyanobacteria and the proteins involved will help to evaluate the use of these microorganisms in metal bioremediation. Furthermore, it will also help to understand how metal availability impacts primary production in the oceans. In this review, we will focus on copper, nickel, cobalt and arsenic (a toxic metalloid) metabolism, which has been mainly analyzed in model cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic representation of the copper homeostasis mechanism in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. The proteins (and genes) mentioned in the figure are CopM (sll0788 and slr6039), CopR (sll0789 and slr6040), CopS (sll0790 and slr6041), PacS (sll1920), CtaA (slr1950), Atx1 (ssr2857), FutA2 (slr0513), CopB (slr6042), CopA (slr6043), CopC (slr6044), Cox (cytochrome oxidase complex), Pc (sll0199), PSI (Photosystem I), PSII (Photosystem II) and Cb6f (cytochrome b6f). OM, outer membrane; PM, plasma membrane; TM, thylakoid membrane.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic representation of the cobalt and nickel homeostasis mechanisms in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. The proteins (and genes) mentioned in the figure are CorT or CoaT (slr0797), CorR or CoaR (sll0794), NrsB (slr0793), NrsA (slr0794), NrsC (slr0795), NrsD (slr0796), InrS (sll0176), HupE (slr2135), NrsR (sll0797), NrsS (sll0798), CbiO (sll0384), CbiQ (sll0385) and CbiM (sll0383). OM, outer membrane; PM, plasma membrane.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Schematic representation of the arsenic resistance mechanism in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. The proteins (and genes) mentioned in the figure are ArsR (sll1957), ArsB (slr0944), ArsH (slr0945), ArsC (slr0946), ArsI (sll5104 and slr6037), Grx (GrxA or GrxB; ssr2061 and slr1562), ArsM (slr0303), AqpZ (aquaporin; slr2057), PstA (sll0682 and slr1242), PstB (sll0683-84 and slr1250), PstC (sll0681 and slr1248) and PstS (sll0680, sll0679, slr1247 and slr0540). OM, outer membrane; PM, plasma membrane.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Genomic organization of arsenic resistance genes in several cyanobacteria.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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