Abstract
Tellurite is highly toxic to bacteria and commonly used in the clinical screening for pathogens; it is speculated that there is a potential relationship between tellurite resistance and bacterial pathogenicity. Until now, the core function genes of tellurite resistance and their characteristics are still obscure. Pseudomonas citronellolis SJTE-3 was found able to resist high concentrations of tellurite (250 μg/mL) and formed vacuole-like tellurium nanostructures. The terZABCDE gene cluster located in the large plasmid pRBL16 endowed strain SJTE-3 with the tellurite resistance of high levels. Although the terC and terD genes were identified as the core function genes for tellurite reduction and resistance, the inhibition of cell growth was observed when they were used solely. Interestingly, co-expression of the terA gene or terZ gene could relieve the burden caused by the expression of the terCD genes and recover normal cell growth. TerC and TerD proteins commonly shared the conserved sequences and are widely distributed in many pathogenic bacteria, highly associated with the pathogenicity factors.
Highlights
Tellurium (Te) is a rare metalloid that belongs to the chalcogen family, whose abundance is relatively low in the earth’s crust [1]
Due to its high toxicity to bacteria, tellurite has been used as an antibacterial agent and in clinical screening for highly pathogenic strains [7]
The terZABCDE gene cluster for tellurite resistance has been found located in plasmid DNA or chromosome DNA of many microorganisms, sharing conserved sequences and close origin [18,35,36,37]
Summary
Tellurium (Te) is a rare metalloid that belongs to the chalcogen family, whose abundance is relatively low in the earth’s crust (about 0.027 ppm) [1]. As a p-type semiconductor, Te is commonly used in the manufacture of solar panels, glass, rubber, photocopiers, and metal alloys [2,3,4]. It was considered one of the two most important materials according to the Materials Genome Initiative launched by the United States of America. Tellurium is mostly in the form of alloys with other metals like copper. Tellurite (TeO3 2 − ) and tellurate (TeO4 2 − ) are the most common forms of tellurium in ecological environments [5,6]. Very low concentration (1 μg/mL) of tellurite can severely inhibit cell growth of
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