Zinc stress induces copper depletion in Acinetobacter baumannii

BMC Microbiology

Research Article

Karl A. Hassan¹  Liam D. H. Elbourne¹  Ian T. Paulsen¹  Christopher A. McDevitt²  Bart A. Eijkelkamp²  Victoria G. Pederick²  James C. Paton² 

[1] Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia;Research Centre for Infectious Diseases, School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia;

关键词: Acinetobacter;    Zinc;    Copper;    Transporter;    Oxidative stress;    Fatty acids;    Macrophages;    Membrane;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12866-017-0965-y

 received in 2017-01-05, accepted in 2017-02-24,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe first row transition metal ions zinc and copper are essential to the survival of many organisms, although in excess these ions are associated with significant toxicity. Here, we examined the impact of zinc and copper stress on Acinetobacter baumannii, a common opportunistic pathogen.ResultsWe show that extracellular zinc stress induces a copper-specific depletion phenotype in A. baumannii ATCC 17978. Supplementation with copper not only fails to rescue this phenotype, but further exacerbates the copper depletion. Extensive analysis of the A. baumannii ATCC 17978 genome identified 13 putative zinc/copper resistance efflux pumps. Transcriptional analyses show that four of these transporters are responsive to zinc stress, five to copper stress and seven to the combination of zinc and copper stress, thereby revealing a likely foundation for the zinc-induced copper starvation in A. baumannii. In addition, we show that zinc and copper play crucial roles in management of oxidative stress and the membrane composition of A. baumannii. Further, we reveal that zinc and copper play distinct roles in macrophage-mediated killing of this pathogen.ConclusionsCollectively, this study supports the targeting of metal ion homeostatic mechanisms as an effective antimicrobial strategy against multi-drug resistant bacterial pathogens.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017