DL-Penicillamine is a copper-specific metal chelator that remarkably suppressed the growth of Bacillus subtilis 168 when added to a synthetic medium under Cu2+ limitation. DNA microarray and screening of 2,602 knockout mutants led to zosA gene responsible for the high sensitivity to DL-penicillamine medium. The zosA mutant showed elevated tolerance of excessive Cu2+ but not of excessive Zn2+ added to LB and synthetic media. Homology modeling suggested that the protein can fold itself into essential domains for constituting a metal transporting ATPase. Our study suggests that zosA is a candidate gene involved in copper uptake.

Identification and characterization of the zosA gene involved in copper uptake inBacillus subtilis 168
Bioscience Biotechnoloygy & Biochemistry, 80(3), 2016
Takahiro Fukuhara, Kazuo Kobayashi, Yousuke Kanayama, Shu-ichi Enomoto, Taeko Kondo, Naoki Tsunekawa, Michiko Nemoto, Naotake Ogasawara, Kenji Inagaki & Takashi Tamura　

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Takashi TAMURA, Ph. D. (Professor)
Graduate School of Environmental and Life Science, Okayama University
Email: tktamura(a)okayama-u.ac.jp
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