Novel pathway for arsenic detoxification in the legume symbiont Sinorhizobium meliloti.

ABSTRACT: We report a novel pathway for arsenic detoxification in the legume symbiont Sinorhizobium meliloti. Although a majority of ars operons consist of three genes, arsR (transcriptional regulator), arsB [As(OH)3/H+ antiporter], and arsC (arsenate reductase), the S. meliloti ars operon includes an aquaglyceroporin (aqpS) in place of arsB. The presence of AqpS in an arsenic resistance operon is interesting, since aquaglyceroporin channels have previously been shown to adventitiously facilitate uptake of arsenite into cells, rendering them sensitive to arsenite. To understand the role of aqpS in arsenic resistance, S. meliloti aqpS and arsC were disrupted individually. Disruption of aqpS resulted in increased tolerance to arsenite but not arsenate, while cells with an arsC disruption showed select

SUBMITTER: Yang HC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1251620 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature