On Friday, October 23rd, Dr. Caguiat will amaze us with his research presentation "Potential Metal-Sensors using MerR Family Proteins from Enterobacter sp. YSU and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia OR02". There are several background readings relevant to this talk that can be found in the Seminar Schedule.
Dr. Caguiat’s presentation focused on the MerR family of proteins, which act as sensors for metals, such as mercury, in bacteria. There are many proteins that confer metal resistance to bacteria that have been discovered and analyzed, perhaps the most studied of which is MerR. Using the bacteria Enterobacter sp. YSU and S. maltophilia OR02 and their unique MerR (or MerR-like) proteins, it is possible to detect very low concentrations of metals, even down to the micromolar scale. These bacteria can thus be used to detect metal concentrations in soil and water.
ReplyDeleteHow might metal-detecting bacteria be used in practice?
What is the benefit of using bacteria as a metal sensor? Why not use another method?
I really enjoyed the presentation Dr. Caguiat gave on metal resistant bacteria. The benefit of using bacteria as a metal sensor is that depending on how much metal is available depends on how the bacteria reacts to it. For example, iron is a very important metal because it is a required nutrient for organisms along with humans. Gram-negative bacteria detects iron in the environment. If the iron is high, transcription is inhibited in the bacteria. If iron is low, then it transcribes iron responsive genes. Therefore, depending how much iron is available, the bacterium responds by regulating gene expression making higher amounts of proteins when the iron is low and less amounts of proteins when iron is high.
ReplyDeleteUsing bacteria as a metal sensor is very productive. There was a study done at the University of California where they tested water with E. coli to determine the level of metals contaminating the water. The study was very successful if you use the right bacteria to detect the specific metal. There are metals that E. coli does not detect therefore you would have to use a different bacterium and so forth.
The relative amounts of metals in an environment can be deduced through examining the expression of metal-resistant and metal-sensitive genes in some bacteria. This has the benefits of being affordable and accessible to many scientists, even if it is not an ideal metal probe that can give exact amounts of metals in a specific area.
ReplyDeleteDr. Caguiat gave a very good presentation on metal resistance bacteria. Metal detecting bacteria serve numerous roles such as detecting different metals in the environment and metal resistance. One study showed how Gram-negative bacteria can detect iron levels in the environment using their outer membrane transporters. These bacteria then used signaling pathways to regulate specific gene expression in response to the varying iron levels. Bacteria are used as metal sensors because they are easy to work with, inexpensive, and have vast availability. Some bacteria produce certain proteins, such as the MerR-like proteins, that allow them to detect very low concentrations of metal. As a result, these bacteria can be used to detect low levels of specific metal that may be harmful in or to the environment.
ReplyDeleteI very much enjoyed the presentation on metal detecting bacteria. There are several examples of bacteria that detect different and various metals in the environment. For example, some gram negative bacteria can detect iron because of their outer membrane transporters. It is interesting to think to use usually harmful bacteria that may cause diseases in humans to detect metals. These metals can be heavy metal contaminants that are harmful to humans.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed Dr. Caguiat's presentation very much.
ReplyDeleteBiometals sensing is one of the widely researched areas in science. Metals existence is useful to our health and daily livelihood whereas some metals are toxic and can be fatal when consumed. Biometals sensing helps rehabilitate and bioremediate areas with
toxic metal levels. These metal-detecting bacteria have various ways to reduce metal toxicity that are efficient and cost effective such as the MerR protein family.