Two Unconventional Metallothioneins in the Apple Snail Pomacea bridgesii Have Lost Their Metal Specificity during Adaptation to Freshwater Habitats.

ABSTRACT: Metallothioneins (MTs) are a diverse group of proteins responsible for the control of metal homeostasis and detoxification. To investigate the impact that environmental conditions might have had on the metal-binding abilities of these proteins, we have characterized the MTs from the apple snail Pomacea bridgesii, a gastropod species belonging to the class of Caenogastropoda with an amphibious lifestyle facing diverse situations of metal bioavailability. P. bridgesii has two structurally divergent MTs, named PbrMT1 and PbrMT2, that are longer than other gastropod MTs due to the presence of extra sequence motifs and metal-binding domains. We have characterized the Zn(II), Cd(II), and Cu(I) binding abilities of these two MTs after their heterologous expression in E. coli.

SUBMITTER: Garcia-Risco M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7796288 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature