Iron, copper, zinc, and manganese transport and regulation in pathogenic Enterobacteria: correlations between strains, site of infection and the relative importance of the different metal transport systems for virulence.

ABSTRACT: For all microorganisms, acquisition of metal ions is essential for survival in the environment or in their infected host. Metal ions are required in many biological processes as components of metalloproteins and serve as cofactors or structural elements for enzymes. However, it is critical for bacteria to ensure that metal uptake and availability is in accordance with physiological needs, as an imbalance in bacterial metal homeostasis is deleterious. Indeed, host defense strategies against infection either consist of metal starvation by sequestration or toxicity by the highly concentrated release of metals. To overcome these host strategies, bacteria employ a variety of metal uptake and export systems and finely regulate metal homeostasis by numerous transcriptional regulators, allowing th

SUBMITTER: Porcheron G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3852070 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature