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Updated: Oct 12, 2026

Essential Metal Uptake in Gram-negative Bacteria: X-ray Fluorescence, Radioisotopes, and Cell Fractionation
Published on: February 1, 2018
The role of efflux in bacterial resistance to soft metals and metalloids
1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI 48201, USA.
Abstract:
Bacteria have evolved various types of resistance mechanism to toxic soft metals and metalloids, including cadmium/zinc, copper/silver and arsenic/antimony. Active efflux of the metal is a frequently utilized stratagem to produce resistance by lowering the intracellular concentration to subtoxic levels. Reduction to a less-toxic form or to a form recognized by an efflux system also occurs. Pumps utilized for resistance may have evolved from normal cellular systems. For example, plasmid-mediated cadmium resistances may have evolved from a common ancestor of the pump involved in zinc homoeostasis. Pumps are more efficient than carriers and may have evolved by developing carriers that associate with ATPase subunits.
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