Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Applied and Environmental Microbiology logoLink to Applied and Environmental Microbiology
. 1997 Nov;63(11):4523–4527. doi: 10.1128/aem.63.11.4523-4527.1997

Metal resistance in Acidocella strains and plasmid-mediated transfer of this characteristic to Acidiphilium multivorum and Escherichia coli.

S Ghosh 1, N R Mahapatra 1, P C Banerjee 1
PMCID: PMC168771  PMID: 9361438

Abstract

Acidophilic heterotrophic strain GS19h of the genus Acidocella exhibited extremely high resistance to CdSO4 and ZnSO4, with a MIC of 1 M for each. The respective MICs for an Acidocella aminolytica strain were 400 and 600 mM. The MICs of NiSO4 for the above strains were 200 and 175 mM, respectively. These strains were also resistant to CuSO4, the MICs being 20 and 40 mM, respectively. An Acidocella facilis strain showed resistance only to ZnSO4, with a MIC of 150 mM. The metal salts, in general, extended the lag period, log period, and generation time, with decreases in growth rate and optimum growth. A. aminolytica and strain GS19h each contain more than one plasmid, while A. facilis contains none. After transformation by electroporation with the plasmid preparation from strain GS19h, an Acidiphilium multivorum strain became highly resistant to cadmium and zinc, and the plasmid profile of the transformed cells was found to differ from that of the original Acidiphilium multivorum strain. Escherichia coli HB101 and DH5 alpha also exhibited more resistance to these metals, especially zinc, after transformation with the total plasmid preparation of strain GS19h or a 24.0-MDa plasmid of the same strain, although no plasmid was detected in the transformed cells. Thus, the results derived mainly through genetic experiments demonstrate for the first time the plasmid-mediated transfer of metal resistance for an acidophilic bacterium.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (471.1 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Birnboim H. C., Doly J. A rapid alkaline extraction procedure for screening recombinant plasmid DNA. Nucleic Acids Res. 1979 Nov 24;7(6):1513–1523. doi: 10.1093/nar/7.6.1513. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Chakravarty L., Zupancic T. J., Baker B., Kittle J. D., Fry I. J., Tuovinen O. H. Characterization of the pTFI91-family replicon of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans plasmids. Can J Microbiol. 1995 Apr-May;41(4-5):354–365. doi: 10.1139/m95-048. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Clennel A. M., Johnston B., Rawlings D. E. Structure and function of Tn5467, a Tn21-like transposon located on the Thiobacillus ferrooxidans broad-host-range plasmid pTF-FC2. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1995 Dec;61(12):4223–4229. doi: 10.1128/aem.61.12.4223-4229.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Datta N., Hedges R. W., Shaw E. J., Sykes R. B., Richmond M. H. Properties of an R factor from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. J Bacteriol. 1971 Dec;108(3):1244–1249. doi: 10.1128/jb.108.3.1244-1249.1971. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Glenn A. W., Roberto F. F., Ward T. E. Transformation of Acidiphilium by electroporation and conjugation. Can J Microbiol. 1992 May;38(5):387–393. doi: 10.1139/m92-065. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Harayama S., Rekik M. A simple procedure for transferring genes cloned in Escherichia coli vectors into other gram-negative bacteria: phenotypic analysis and mapping of TOL plasmid gene xylK. Gene. 1989 May 15;78(1):19–27. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(89)90310-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Inagaki K., Tomono J., Kishimoto N., Tano T., Tanaka H. Transformation of the acidophilic heterotroph Acidiphilium facilis by electroporation. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 1993 Oct;57(10):1770–1771. doi: 10.1271/bbb.57.1770. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Macrina F. L., Kopecko D. J., Jones K. R., Ayers D. J., McCowen S. M. A multiple plasmid-containing Escherichia coli strain: convenient source of size reference plasmid molecules. Plasmid. 1978 Jun;1(3):417–420. doi: 10.1016/0147-619x(78)90056-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Martin P. A., Dugan P. R., Tuovinen O. H. Plasmid DNA in acidophilic, chemolithotrophic thiobacilli. Can J Microbiol. 1981 Aug;27(8):850–853. doi: 10.1139/m81-133. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Mergeay M. Towards an understanding of the genetics of bacterial metal resistance. Trends Biotechnol. 1991 Jan;9(1):17–24. doi: 10.1016/0167-7799(91)90007-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Priefer U. B., Simon R., Pühler A. Extension of the host range of Escherichia coli vectors by incorporation of RSF1010 replication and mobilization functions. J Bacteriol. 1985 Jul;163(1):324–330. doi: 10.1128/jb.163.1.324-330.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Quentmeier A., Friedrich C. G. Transfer and expression of degradative and antibiotic resistance plasmids in acidophilic bacteria. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1994 Mar;60(3):973–978. doi: 10.1128/aem.60.3.973-978.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Rawlings D. E., Pretorius I., Woods D. R. Expression of a Thiobacillus ferrooxidans origin of replication in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1984 May;158(2):737–738. doi: 10.1128/jb.158.2.737-738.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Rawlings D. E., Woods D. R. Mobilization of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans plasmids among Escherichia coli strains. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1985 May;49(5):1323–1325. doi: 10.1128/aem.49.5.1323-1325.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Shiratori T., Inoue C., Sugawara K., Kusano T., Kitagawa Y. Cloning and expression of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans mercury ion resistance genes in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1989 Jun;171(6):3458–3464. doi: 10.1128/jb.171.6.3458-3464.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Silver S., Phung L. T. Bacterial heavy metal resistance: new surprises. Annu Rev Microbiol. 1996;50:753–789. doi: 10.1146/annurev.micro.50.1.753. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Top E., Mergeay M., Springael D., Verstraete W. Gene escape model: transfer of heavy metal resistance genes from Escherichia coli to Alcaligenes eutrophus on agar plates and in soil samples. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1990 Aug;56(8):2471–2479. doi: 10.1128/aem.56.8.2471-2479.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Applied and Environmental Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES