Characterization of chromosomal mediated cadmium resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain BC15

Cadmium (Cd) has been used extensively in metal plating, mining, paints and plastic generation etc. In this study, Cd resistance (cadR) gene was characterized from the environmental isolate Pseudomonas aeruginosa BC15. The cadR sequences showed high homology with P. aeruginosa FLH033011 (100%), P. aeruginosa PAO1 (99%), and P. aeruginosa UCBPP-PA14 (98%) respectively. Homology modeling of cadR was carried out by using swiss-prot server. Crystal structures of E. coli CueR for Cu (1q05) and ZntR (1q08) for Zn have been used as a template. The sequence identity of P. aeruginosa cadR shares 34% for CueR and 43% for ZntR. Fold recognition of P. aeruginosa cadR was created by using PHYRE web server. Transcriptional regulator CueR (1q06a) from E. coli was chosen as the template. CadR has 31% identity and the estimated precision was 100%. The cadR gene was cloned in pET30b and transformed into E. coli BL21. The molecular weight protein of cadR was estimated to be 25 kDa by SDS-PAGE. The recombinant E. coli cadR efficiently grow in the Cd supplemented LB medium and agar plate. The order of the resistance of E. coli cadR was Mn > Pb > Cu > Cd > Ni > Zn. These findings can lead to the use of P. aeruginosa BC15 for the remediation of Cd and other heavy metals present in the polluted environment.