scholarly journals Investigation of the zinc uptake system of the human fungal pathogen Candida parapsilosis

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamás Takács ◽  
Tibor Mihály Németh ◽  
Zóra Szilovics ◽  
Csaba Vágvölgyi ◽  
Duncan Wilson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Candida Parapsilosis ◽  
Hydrolytic Enzymes ◽  
Zinc Ion ◽  
Zinc Uptake ◽  
Ion Concentration ◽  
Cell Uptake ◽  
Uptake System ◽  
Fungal Cell ◽  
High Zinc ◽  
Acquisition Processes

Candida parapsilosis is the second or third most commonly isolated Candida species from blood cultures and is frequently associated with infections in neonatal intensive care units. Candida species have several virulence factors enabling them to adapt to host environmental conditions and cause infections. These factors include adhesion, biofilm formation, and secretion of hydrolytic enzymes, such as acidic proteinases and lipases. Candida species also obtain heavy metal ions from their environment, such as zinc. Zinc is a cofactor of several proteins and a vital element in cellular mechanisms of the fungi. On the one hand, the host niche represents a zinc-limited environment, that indirectly inhibits microbial growth. In order to survive in such an environment, these pathogens have evolved a zinc transport system that allows them to access bound zinc ions during infection. On the other hand, high zinc ion concentration within the host can also be toxic to microbes e.g. in the phagosomes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infected macrophages. In case of C. albicans, zinc acquisition processes are intensively studied, but we lack information of the zinc uptake, transfer and homeostasis mechanisms in C. parapsilosis. Here, predicted potential zinc transporters in C. parapsilosis using in silico analyses, generated homozygous knock out mutants and performed their phenotypical characterization by exposing them to various types of stressors and zinc limiting conditions. Furthermore, we analyzed their virulence traits by examining kinetics of fungal cell uptake by macrophages, their killing efficiency and also investigated zinc ion levels in the phagolysosome during in vitro infections

scholarly journals Zap1p, a metalloregulatory protein involved in zinc-responsive transcriptional regulation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

1997 ◽  
Vol 17 (9) ◽  
pp. 5044-5052 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Zhao ◽  
D J Eide
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Transcriptional Regulation ◽  
Sequence Similarity ◽  
Ion Homeostasis ◽  
Zinc Ion ◽  
Cysteine Residue ◽  
Terminal Region ◽  
Zinc Uptake ◽  
Uptake System ◽  
High Level

Zinc ion homeostasis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is controlled primarily through the transcriptional regulation of zinc uptake systems in response to intracellular zinc levels. A high-affinity uptake system is encoded by the ZRT1 gene, and its expression is induced more than 30-fold in zinc-limited cells. A low-affinity transporter is encoded by the ZRT2 gene, and this system is also regulated by zinc. We used a genetic approach to isolate mutants whose ZRT1 expression is no longer repressed in zinc-replete cells, and a new gene, ZAP1, was identified. ZAP1 encodes a 93-kDa protein with sequence similarity to transcriptional activators; the C-terminal 174 amino acids contains five C2H2 zinc finger domains, and the N terminus (residues 1 to 706) has two potential acidic activation domains. The N-terminal region also contains 12% histidine and cysteine residues. The mutant allele isolated, ZAP1-1up, is semidominant and caused high-level expression of ZRT1 and ZRT2 in both zinc-limited and zinc-replete cells. This phenotype is the result of a mutation that substitutes a serine for a cysteine residue in the N-terminal region. A zap1 deletion mutant grew well on zinc-replete media but poorly on zinc-limiting media. This mutant had low-level ZRT1 and ZRT2 expression in zinc-limited as well as zinc-replete cells. These data indicate that Zap1p plays a central role in zinc ion homeostasis by regulating transcription of the zinc uptake system genes in response to zinc. Finally, we present evidence that Zap1p regulates transcription of its own promoter in response to zinc through a positive autoregulatory mechanism.

Antifungal Proteins from Plant Latex

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 497-506
Author(s):  
Mayck Silva Barbosa ◽  
Bruna da Silva Souza ◽  
Ana Clara Silva Sales ◽  
Jhoana D’arc Lopes de Sousa ◽  
Francisca Dayane Soares da Silva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Walls ◽  
Defense Mechanisms ◽  
Hydrolytic Enzymes ◽  
Fungal Species ◽  
Biologically Active ◽  
Protein Classification ◽  
Fungal Cell ◽  
Antifungal Proteins ◽  
Plant Latex

Latex, a milky fluid found in several plants, is widely used for many purposes, and its proteins have been investigated by researchers. Many studies have shown that latex produced by some plant species is a natural source of biologically active compounds, and many of the hydrolytic enzymes are related to health benefits. Research on the characterization and industrial and pharmaceutical utility of latex has progressed in recent years. Latex proteins are associated with plants’ defense mechanisms, against attacks by fungi. In this respect, there are several biotechnological applications of antifungal proteins. Some findings reveal that antifungal proteins inhibit fungi by interrupting the synthesis of fungal cell walls or rupturing the membrane. Moreover, both phytopathogenic and clinical fungal strains are susceptible to latex proteins. The present review describes some important features of proteins isolated from plant latex which presented in vitro antifungal activities: protein classification, function, molecular weight, isoelectric point, as well as the fungal species that are inhibited by them. We also discuss their mechanisms of action.

scholarly journals A High-Throughput Screening System Based on Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting for the Directed Evolution of Chitinase A

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 3041
Author(s):  
Gheorghita Menghiu ◽  
Vasile Ostafe ◽  
Radivoje Prodanović ◽  
Rainer Fischer ◽  
Raluca Ostafe
Keyword(s):  
High Throughput ◽  
Cell Sorting ◽  
High Throughput Screening ◽  
Screening Method ◽  
Enzymatic Reaction ◽  
Hydrolytic Enzymes ◽  
Screening System ◽  
Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting ◽  
Fungal Cell ◽  
Chitinase A

Chitinases catalyze the degradation of chitin, a polymer of N-acetylglucosamine found in crustacean shells, insect cuticles, and fungal cell walls. There is great interest in the development of improved chitinases to address the environmental burden of chitin waste from the food processing industry as well as the potential medical, agricultural, and industrial uses of partially deacetylated chitin (chitosan) and its products (chito-oligosaccharides). The depolymerization of chitin can be achieved using chemical and physical treatments, but an enzymatic process would be more environmentally friendly and more sustainable. However, chitinases are slow-acting enzymes, limiting their biotechnological exploitation, although this can be overcome by molecular evolution approaches to enhance the features required for specific applications. The two main goals of this study were the development of a high-throughput screening system for chitinase activity (which could be extrapolated to other hydrolytic enzymes), and the deployment of this new method to select improved chitinase variants. We therefore cloned and expressed the Bacillus licheniformis DSM8785 chitinase A (chiA) gene in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) cells and generated a mutant library by error-prone PCR. We then developed a screening method based on fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) using the model substrate 4-methylumbelliferyl β-d-N,N′,N″-triacetyl chitotrioside to identify improved enzymes. We prevented cross-talk between emulsion compartments caused by the hydrophobicity of 4-methylumbelliferone, the fluorescent product of the enzymatic reaction, by incorporating cyclodextrins into the aqueous phases. We also addressed the toxicity of long-term chiA expression in E. coli by limiting the reaction time. We identified 12 mutants containing 2–8 mutations per gene resulting in up to twofold higher activity than wild-type ChiA.

Effect of Ion Migration of Multiple Copper-Zinc Alloy on the Crystal Structure of Calcium Carbonate Scale

2010 ◽  
Vol 96 ◽  
pp. 35-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Ding ◽  
Jun Ping Meng ◽  
Xu Hong Zhang ◽  
Li Juan Wang ◽  
Qing Guo Tang
Keyword(s):  
Crystal Structure ◽  
Calcium Carbonate ◽  
Zinc Ion ◽  
Ion Concentration ◽  
Zinc Alloy ◽  
Heating Process ◽  
Ion Migration ◽  
Heat Transfer Efficiency ◽  
Copper Zinc ◽  
Calcium Carbonate Scale

Multiple copper-zinc alloy was used to treat water in order to restrict the formation of hard scale during heating process. Trace amounts of metal ions were dissolved from the alloy under the action of tiny battery corrosion, which took part in the crystallization of calcium carbonate crystal. The ion migration rules and its effect on the crystal structure of water scale were studied. The ICP test results show that after immersion in the water for 20 min, the zinc ion concentration increased to 0.35 mg•L-1 compared with contrast group. The simulating experiment of the scale crystal growth demonstrated that the calcium carbonate scale after treated with the alloy showed a transformation from calcite to aragonite, and the ratio of calcite to aragonite changed from 1:0.125 to 1:2.30. Meanwhile, the heat transfer efficiency was increased to 2.19%.

scholarly journals Functional Analysis of the Bacillus subtilis Zur Regulon

2002 ◽  
Vol 184 (23) ◽  
pp. 6508-6514 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Gaballa ◽  
Tao Wang ◽  
Rick W. Ye ◽  
John D. Helmann
Keyword(s):  
Bacillus Subtilis ◽  
Metal Ion ◽  
Dna Microarrays ◽  
Optimal Growth ◽  
Zinc Uptake ◽  
Uptake System ◽  
Mobility Shift ◽  
Transport Pathway ◽  
Dnase I Footprinting ◽  
Transporter Family

ABSTRACT The Bacillus subtilis zinc uptake repressor (Zur) regulates genes involved in zinc uptake. We have used DNA microarrays to identify genes that are derepressed in a zur mutant. In addition to members of the two previously identified Zur-regulated operons (yciC and ycdHI-yceA), we identified two other genes, yciA and yciB, as targets of Zur regulation. Electrophoretic mobility shift experiments demonstrated that all three operons are direct targets of Zur regulation. Zur binds to an ∼28-bp operator upstream of the yciA gene, as judged by DNase I footprinting, and similar operator sites are found preceding each of the previously described target operons, yciC and ycdHI-yceA. Analysis of a yciA-lacZ fusion indicates that this operon is induced under zinc starvation conditions and derepressed in the zur mutant. Phenotypic analyses suggest that the YciA, YciB, and YciC proteins may function as part of the same Zn(II) transport pathway. Mutation of yciA or yciC, singly or in combination, had little effect on growth of the wild-type strain but significantly impaired the growth of the ycdH mutant under conditions of zinc limitation. Since the YciA, YciB, and YciC proteins are not obviously related to any known transporter family, they may define a new class of metal ion uptake system. Mutant strains lacking all three identified zinc uptake systems (yciABC, ycdHI-yceA, and zosA) are dependent on micromolar levels of added zinc for optimal growth.

scholarly journals The zinc transporter ZnuABC is critical for the virulence of Chromobacterium violaceum and contributes to diverse zinc-dependent physiological processes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renato E. R. S. Santos ◽  
Waldir P. da Silva Júnior ◽  
Simone A. Harrison ◽  
Eric P Skaar ◽  
Walter J. Chazin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mutant Strain ◽  
Zinc Uptake ◽  
Chromobacterium Violaceum ◽  
Host Protein ◽  
Infection Model ◽  
Uptake System ◽  
Environmental Bacterium ◽  
Mouse Infection Model ◽  
Synthetic Metal

Chromobacterium violaceum is a ubiquitous environmental bacterium that causes sporadic life-threatening infections in humans. How C. violaceum acquires zinc to colonize environmental and host niches is unknown. In this work, we demonstrated that C. violaceum employs the zinc uptake system ZnuABC to overcome zinc limitation in the host, ensuring the zinc supply for several physiological demands. Our data indicated that the C. violaceum ZnuABC transporter is encoded in a zur-CV_RS15045-CV_RS15040-znuCBA operon. This operon was repressed by the zinc uptake regulator Zur and derepressed in the presence of the host protein calprotectin (CP) and the synthetic metal chelator EDTA. A ΔznuCBA mutant strain showed impaired growth under these zinc-chelated conditions. Moreover, the deletion of znuCBA provoked a reduction in violacein production, swimming motility, biofilm formation, and bacterial competition. Remarkably, the ΔznuCBA mutant strain was highly attenuated for virulence in an in vivo mouse infection model and showed a low capacity to colonize the liver, grow in the presence of CP, and resist neutrophil killing. Overall, our findings demonstrate that ZnuABC is essential for C. violaceum virulence, contributing to subvert the zinc-based host nutritional immunity.

scholarly journals Removal of Zinc ions from industrial wastewater with wool fibers

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 1193-1201
Author(s):  
Baghdad Science Journal
Keyword(s):  
Acid Concentration ◽  
Contact Time ◽  
Industrial Wastewater ◽  
Metal Ion ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Zinc Ion ◽  
Ion Concentration ◽  
Natural Material ◽  
Zinc Ions ◽  
Wool Fibers

In this research, the efficiency of low-cost unmodified wool fibers were used to remove zinc ion from industrial wastewater. Removal of zinc ion was achieved at 99.52% by using simple wool column. The experiment was carried out under varying conditions of (2h) contact time, metal ion concentration (50mg/l), wool fibers quantity to treated water (70g/l), pH(7) & acid concentration (0.05M). The aim of this method is to use a high sensitive, available & cheep natural material which applied successfully for industrial wastewater& synthetic water, where zinc ion concentration was reduced from (14.6mg/l) to (0.07mg/l) & consequently the hazardous effect of contamination was minimized.

Amino acid modulation of in vivo intestinal zinc absorption in freshwater rainbow trout

2002 ◽  
Vol 205 (1) ◽  
pp. 151-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris N. Glover ◽  
Christer Hogstrand
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Rainbow Trout ◽  
Amino Acid ◽  
Zinc Ion ◽  
Zinc Uptake ◽  
Intestinal Lumen ◽  
Zinc Absorption ◽  
Zinc Accumulation ◽  
Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus Mykiss

SUMMARY The composition of the intestinal lumen is likely to have considerable influence upon the absorption, and consequently the nutrition and/or toxicity, of ingested zinc in aquatic environments, where zinc is both a nutrient and a toxicant of importance. The effects of amino acids upon intestinal zinc uptake in freshwater rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were studied using an in vivo perfusion technique. The presence of histidine, cysteine and taurine had distinct modifying actions upon quantitative and qualitative zinc absorption, compared to perfusion of zinc alone. Alterations in zinc transport were not correlated with changes in levels of free zinc ion. The chemical nature of the zinc–amino acid chelate, rather than the chelation itself, appeared to have the most important influence upon zinc absorption. l-histidine, despite a strong zinc-chelating effect, maintained quantitative zinc uptake at control (zinc alone) levels. This effect correlated with the formation of Zn(His)2 species. d-histidine at a luminal concentration of 100 mmol l–1 significantly enhanced subepithelial zinc accumulation, but reduced the fraction of zinc that was retained and absorbed by the fish. The possibility of a Zn(His)2-mediated pathway for intestinal uptake is discussed. l-cysteine specifically stimulated the accumulation of zinc post-intestinally, an effect attributed to enhanced zinc accumulation in the blood. Taurine increased subepithelial zinc accumulation, but decreased the passage of zinc to post-intestinal compartments. Amino acids are proposed to have important roles in modifying intestinal zinc uptake with potential implications for environmental toxicity as well as aquaculture.

Novel electrolyte additive of graphene oxide for prolonging the lifespan of Zinc-ion batteries

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuyang Wang ◽  
Alina Kirianova ◽  
Xieyu Xu ◽  
Yanguang Liu ◽  
Olesya Kapitanova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Graphene Oxide ◽  
Coulombic Efficiency ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Concentration Field ◽  
Phase Field Model ◽  
Deposition Process ◽  
Zinc Ion ◽  
Ion Concentration ◽  
Environmental Friendliness ◽  
Nucleation Overpotential

Abstract Aqueous zinc-ion batteries have attracted the attention of the industry due to their low cost, good environmental friendliness, and competitive gravimetric energy density. However, zinc anodes, similar to lithium, sodium and other alkali metal anodes, are also plagued by dendrite problems. Zinc dendrites can penetrate through polymer membranes, and even glass fiber membranes which seriously hinders the development and application of aqueous zinc-ion batteries. To resolve this issue, certain additives are required. Here we have synthesized an electrochemical graphene oxide with novel electrolyte based on tryptophan, which allows to obtain few-layered sheets with a remarkably uniform morphology, good aqueous solution dispersion, easy preparation and environmental friendliness. We used this electrochemical graphene oxide as an additive to the electrolyte for aqueous zinc-ion batteries. The results of phase-field model combined with experimental characterization revealed that the addition of this material effectively promotes the uniform distribution of the electric field and the Zn-ion concentration field, reduces the nucleation overpotential of Zn metal, and provides a more uniform deposition process on the metal surface and improved cyclability of the aqueous Zn-ion battery. The resultant Zn|Zn symmetric battery with the electrochemical graphene oxide additive affords a stable Zn anode, which provided service for more than 500 hours at 0.2 mA cm-2 and even more than 250 hours at 1.0 mA cm-2. The Coulombic efficiency (98.7%) of Zn|Cu half-cells and thus cyclability of aqueous Zn-ion batteries using electrochemical graphene oxide is significantly better compared to the additive-free electrolyte system. Therefore, our approach paves a promising avenue to foster the practical application of aqueous Zn-ion batteries for energy storage.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document