Adaptation of aerobically growing Pseudomonas aeruginosa to copper starvation.

ABSTRACT: Restricted bioavailability of copper in certain environments can interfere with cellular respiration because copper is an essential cofactor of most terminal oxidases. The global response of the metabolically versatile bacterium and opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa to copper limitation was assessed under aerobic conditions. Expression of cioAB (encoding an alternative, copper-independent, cyanide-resistant ubiquinol oxidase) was upregulated, whereas numerous iron uptake functions (including the siderophores pyoverdine and pyochelin) were expressed at reduced levels, presumably reflecting a lower demand for iron by respiratory enzymes. Wild-type P. aeruginosa was able to grow aerobically in a defined glucose medium depleted of copper, whereas a cioAB mutant did not grow. Thus,

SUBMITTER: Frangipani E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2566181 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature