Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 25, 2026

Accumulation and Analysis of Cuprous Ions in a Copper Sulfate Plating Solution
Published on: March 20, 2019
Copper resistance and its regulation in the sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfosporosinus sp. OT
Stefano Mancini1, Ranjeet Kumar2, Helge K Abicht1
1Department of Clinical Research, University of Bern, 3010 Bern, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Desulfosporosinus sp. OT is a Gram-positive, acidophilic sulfate-reducing firmicute isolated from copper tailings sediment in the Norilsk mining-smelting area in Siberia and represents the first Desulfosporosinus species whose genome has been sequenced. Desulfosporosinus sp. OT is exceptionally copper resistant, which made it of interest to study the resistance mechanism. It possesses a copUAZ operon which is shown here to be involved in copper resistance. The copU gene encodes a CsoR-type homotetrameric repressor. By electrophoretic mobility shift assay, it was shown that CopU binds to the operator/promoter region of the copUAZ operon in the absence of copper and is released from the DNA by Cu+ or Ag+, implying that CopU regulates the operon in a copper/silver-dependent manner. DOT_CopA is a P1B-type ATPase related to other characterized, bacterial copper ATPases. When expressed in a copper-sensitive Escherichia coli ΔcopA mutant, it restores copper resistance to WT levels. His-tagged DOT_CopA was expressed from a plasmid in E. coli and purified by Ni-NTA affinity chromatography. The purified enzyme was most active in the presence of Cu(I) and bacterial phospholipids. These findings indicate that the copUAZ operon confers copper resistance to Desulfosporosinus sp. OT, but do not per se explain the basis of the high copper resistance of this strain.
More Related Videos
15:19Development of Sulfidogenic Sludge from Marine Sediments and Trichloroethylene Reduction in an Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Reactor
Published on: October 15, 2015
07:31ACT1-CUP1 Assays Determine the Substrate-Specific Sensitivities of Spliceosomal Mutants in Budding Yeast
Published on: June 30, 2022
Related Concept Videos
Microbes and the Sulfur Cycle
Sulfur Assimilation
Microbial Leaching
Microbial Corrosion
Precipitation and Co-precipitation
Microbes and Other Elemental Cycles