Tellurite and Tellurate Reduction by the Aerobic Anoxygenic Phototroph Erythromonas ursincola, Strain KR99 Is Carried out by a Novel Membrane Associated Enzyme

The crystal structure of mycothiol disulfide reductase (Mtr) provides mechanistic insight into the specific low-molecular-weight thiol reductase activity of Actinobacteria

Low-molecular-weight (LMW) thiols are involved in many processes in all organisms, playing a protective role against reactive species, heavy metals, toxins and antibiotics. Actinobacteria, such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, use the LMW thiol mycothiol (MSH) to buffer the intracellular redox environment. The NADPH-dependent FAD-containing oxidoreductase mycothiol disulfide reductase (Mtr) is known to reduce oxidized mycothiol disulfide (MSSM) to MSH, which is crucial to maintain the cellular redox balance. In this work, the first crystal structures of Mtr are presented, expanding the structural knowledge and understanding of LMW thiol reductases. The structural analyses and docking calculations provide insight into the nature of Mtrs, with regard to the binding and reduction of the MSSM substrate, in the context of related oxidoreductases. The putative binding site for MSSM suggests a similar binding to that described for the homologous glutathione reductase and its respective substrate glutathione disulfide, but with distinct structural differences shaped to fit the bulkier MSSM substrate, assigning Mtrs as uniquely functioning reductases. As MSH has been acknowledged as an attractive antitubercular target, the structural findings presented in this work may contribute towards future antituberculosis drug development.

Metallophore Activity toward the Rare Earth Elements by Bacteria Isolated from Acid Mine Drainage Due to Coal Mining

The field of microbe-metal interactions has been gaining significant attention. While the direct impact of metal oxyanions on bacteria has been investigated, significantly less attention has been placed on the ability of certain microbes to 'collect' such metal ions via secreted proteins. Many bacteria possess low-weight molecules called siderophores, which collect Fe from the environment to be brought back to the cell. However, some appear to have additional roles, including binding other metals, termed 'metallophores'. Microbes can remove/sequester these from their surroundings, but the breadth of those that can be removed is still unknown. Using the Chromeazurol S assay, we identified eight isolates, most belonging to the genus Pseudomonas, possessing siderophore activity, mainly from sites impacted by coal mine drainage, also possessing a metallophore activity toward the rare earth elements that does not appear to be related to ionic radii or previously reported EC50 concentrations for E. coli. We found the strength of metallophore activity towards these elements was as follows: Pr > Sc > Eu > Tm > Tb > Er > Yb > Ce > Lu > Sm > Ho > La > Nd > Dy > Gd > Y. This is the first study to investigate such activity and indicates bacteria may provide a means of removal/recovery of these critical elements.

Microbial mechanisms to transform the super-trace element tellurium: a systematic review and discussion of nanoparticulate phases

Tellurium is a super-trace metalloid on Earth. Owing to its excellent physical and chemical properties, it is used in industries such as metallurgy and manufacturing, particularly of semiconductors and - more recently - solar panels. As the global demand for tellurium rises, environmental issues surrounding tellurium have recently aroused concern due to its high toxicity. The amount of tellurium released to the environment is increasing, and microorganisms play an important role in the biogeochemical cycling of environmental tellurium. This review focuses on novel developments on tellurium transformations driven by microbes and includes the following sections: (1) history and applications of tellurium; (2) toxicity of tellurium; (3) microbial detoxification mechanisms against soluble tellurium anions including uptake, efflux and methods of reduction, and reduced ability to cope with oxidation stress or repair damaged DNA; and (4) the characteristics and applications of tellurium nanoparticles (TeNPs) produced by microbes. This review raises the awareness of microorganisms in tellurium biogeochemical cycling and the growing applications for microbial tellurium nanoparticles.

Use of Microbial Consortia in Bioremediation of Metalloid Polluted Environments

Metalloids are released into the environment due to the erosion of the rocks or anthropogenic activities, causing problems for human health in different world regions. Meanwhile, microorganisms with different mechanisms to tolerate and detoxify metalloid contaminants have an essential role in reducing risks. In this review, we first define metalloids and bioremediation methods and examine the ecology and biodiversity of microorganisms in areas contaminated with these metalloids. Then we studied the genes and proteins involved in the tolerance, transport, uptake, and reduction of these metalloids. Most of these studies focused on a single metalloid and co-contamination of multiple pollutants were poorly discussed in the literature. Furthermore, microbial communication within consortia was rarely explored. Finally, we summarized the microbial relationships between microorganisms in consortia and biofilms to remove one or more contaminants. Therefore, this review article contains valuable information about microbial consortia and their mechanisms in the bioremediation of metalloids.

Green synthesis of biogenetic Te(0) nanoparticles by high tellurite tolerance fungus Mortierella sp. AB1 with antibacterial activity

Tellurite [Te(IV)] is a high-toxicity metalloid. In this study, a fungus with high Te(IV) resistance was isolated. Strain AB1 could efficiently reduce highly toxic Te(IV) to less toxic Te(0). The reduced products formed rod-shaped biogenetic Te(0) nanoparticles (Bio-TeNPs) intracellularly. Further TEM-element mapping, FTIR, and XPS analysis showed that the extracted Bio-TeNPs ranged from 100 to 500 nm and consisted of Te(0), proteins, lipids, aromatic compounds, and carbohydrates. Moreover, Bio-TeNPs exhibited excellent antibacterial ability against Shigella dysenteriae, Escherichia coli, Enterobacter sakazakii, and Salmonella typhimurium according to inhibition zone tests. Further growth and live/dead staining experiments showed that E. coli and S. typhimurium were significantly inhibited by Bio-TeNPs, and cells were broken or shriveled after treatment with Bio-TeNPs based on SEM observation. Additionally, the antioxidant and cytotoxicity tests showed that the Bio-TeNPs exhibited excellent antioxidant capacity with no cytotoxicity. All these results suggested that strain AB1 showed great potential in bioremediation and Bio-TeNPs were excellent antibacterial nanomaterials with no cytotoxicity.

The role of cysteine in tellurate reduction and toxicity

The tellurium oxyanion tellurate is toxic to living organisms even at low concentrations; however, its mechanism of toxicity is poorly understood. Here, we show that exposure of Escherichia coli K-12 to tellurate results in reduction to elemental tellurium (Te[0]) and the formation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). Toxicity assays performed with E. coli indicated that pre-oxidation of the intracellular thiol pools increases cellular resistance to tellurate-suggesting that intracellular thiols are important in tellurate toxicity. X-ray absorption spectroscopy experiments demonstrated that cysteine reduces tellurate to elemental tellurium. This redox reaction was found to generate superoxide anions. These results indicate that tellurate reduction to Te(0) by cysteine is a source of ROS in the cytoplasm of tellurate-exposed cells.

Tellurium: A Rare Element with Influence on Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Biological Systems

Metalloid tellurium is characterized as a chemical element belonging to the chalcogen group without known biological function. However, its compounds, especially the oxyanions, exert numerous negative effects on both prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. Recent evidence suggests that increasing environmental pollution with tellurium has a causal link to autoimmune, neurodegenerative and oncological diseases. In this review, we provide an overview about the current knowledge on the mechanisms of tellurium compounds' toxicity in bacteria and humans and we summarise the various ways organisms cope and detoxify these compounds. Over the last decades, several gene clusters conferring resistance to tellurium compounds have been identified in a variety of bacterial species and strains. These genetic determinants exhibit great genetic and functional diversity. Besides the existence of specific resistance mechanisms, tellurium and its toxic compounds interact with molecular systems, mediating general detoxification and mitigation of oxidative stress. We also discuss the similarity of tellurium and selenium biochemistry and the impact of their compounds on humans.

Discovery of Siderophore and Metallophore Production in the Aerobic Anoxygenic Phototrophs

Aerobic anoxygenic phototrophs have been isolated from a rich variety of environments including marine ecosystems, freshwater and meromictic lakes, hypersaline springs, and biological soil crusts, all in the hopes of understanding their ecological niche. Over 100 isolates were chosen for this study, representing 44 species from 27 genera. Interactions with Fe³⁺ and other metal(loid) cations such as Mg²⁺, V³⁺, Mn²⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺, Se⁴⁺ and Te²⁺ were tested using a chromeazurol S assay to detect siderophore or metallophore production, respectively. Representatives from 20 species in 14 genera of α-Proteobacteria, or 30% of strains, produced highly diffusible siderophores that could bind one or more metal(loid)s, with activity strength as follows: Fe > Zn > V > Te > Cu > Mn > Mg > Se > Ni > Co. In addition, γ-proteobacterial Chromocurvus halotolerans, strain EG19 excreted a brown compound into growth medium, which was purified and confirmed to act as a siderophore. It had an approximate size of ~341 Da and drew similarities to the siderophore rhodotorulic acid, a member of the hydroxamate group, previously found only among yeasts. This study is the first to discover siderophore production to be widespread among the aerobic anoxygenic phototrophs, which may be another key method of metal(loid) chelation and potential detoxification within their environments.

Identification of a TeO32- reductase/mycothione reductase from Rhodococcus erythropolis PR4

A Rhodococcus erythropolis bacterium that tolerates normally lethal concentrations of Fe(II), Cu(II), AsO32-, SeO32-, TeO32-, Cd(II) and Zn(II) was identified from an environmental isolate. In characterizing the molecular basis for metal tolerance, a mycothione reductase (Mtr) with remarkable selectivity for TeO32- reduction over SeO32- was identified. In equimolar concentrations of TeO32- and SeO32-, the enzymatic product contains a 7-fold excess of Te. This selectivity is remarkable because the standard reduction potential of SeO32- is 0.20 V more favorable for reduction than TeO32. Selectivity of the enzyme for TeO32- decreases with increasing assay pH. Homology modeling of the enzyme identifies four aromatic residues near the active site, including two histidine residues, that are not present in a related SeO32- preferring reductase. On the basis of more favorable π-interactions for Te than for Se and the pH dependence of the selectivity, the Te-selectivity is attributed in part to these aromatic residues. The resulting Te0 enzymatic product resembles Te nanowires.

Green Synthesis of Selenium and Tellurium Nanoparticles: Current Trends, Biological Properties and Biomedical Applications

The synthesis and assembly of nanoparticles using green technology has been an excellent option in nanotechnology because they are easy to implement, cost-efficient, eco-friendly, risk-free, and amenable to scaling up. They also do not require sophisticated equipment nor well-trained professionals. Bionanotechnology involves various biological systems as suitable nanofactories, including biomolecules, bacteria, fungi, yeasts, and plants. Biologically inspired nanomaterial fabrication approaches have shown great potential to interconnect microbial or plant extract biotechnology and nanotechnology. The present article extensively reviews the eco-friendly production of metalloid nanoparticles, namely made of selenium (SeNPs) and tellurium (TeNPs), using various microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi, and plants' extracts. It also discusses the methodologies followed by materials scientists and highlights the impact of the experimental sets on the outcomes and shed light on the underlying mechanisms. Moreover, it features the unique properties displayed by these biogenic nanoparticles for a large range of emerging applications in medicine, agriculture, bioengineering, and bioremediation.

Discovery of a Novel Gene Conferring Tellurite Tolerance Through Tellurite Reduction to Escherichia coli Transformant in Marine Sediment Metagenomic Library

Metagenomic library construction using a marine sediment-enrichment was employed in order to recover tellurium from tellurite, a tellurium oxyanion, dissolved in water and then functional screening was performed to discover a novel gene related to tellurite reduction. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed the formation of intracellular Te crystals in Escherichia coli cells transformed with a specific DNA fragment from the marine sediment metagenome. The metagenome fragment was composed of 691 bp and showed low homology to known proteins. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that the metagenome fragment was related to Pseudomonas stutzeri. Cloning and expression of an open reading frame (ORF) on the metagenome fragment validated the role of the fragment in conferring tellurite resistance and tellurite-reducing activity to E. coli host cells. E. coli transformant containing the ORF1 showed resistance to 1 mM Na₂TeO₃. The optimal tellurite-reducing activity of cells containing the ORF1 was recorded at 37 °C and pH 7.0.

Extreme Environments and High-Level Bacterial Tellurite Resistance

Bacteria have long been known to possess resistance to the highly toxic oxyanion tellurite, most commonly though reduction to elemental tellurium. However, the majority of research has focused on the impact of this compound on microbes, namely E. coli, which have a very low level of resistance. Very little has been done regarding bacteria on the other end of the spectrum, with three to four orders of magnitude greater resistance than E. coli. With more focus on ecologically-friendly methods of pollutant removal, the use of bacteria for tellurite remediation, and possibly recovery, further highlights the importance of better understanding the effect on microbes, and approaches for resistance/reduction. The goal of this review is to compile current research on bacterial tellurite resistance, with a focus on high-level resistance by bacteria inhabiting extreme environments.