Skip to main content
User Image

Hend A. Alwathnani د.هند عوّاض الوذناني

Professor

عضو هيئة التدريس

كلية العلوم
University City Building (5) third-round 294 | Office Tel: 18055892 009661

Genomic Islands Confer Heavy Metal Resistance in Mucilaginibacter kameinonensis and Mucilaginibacter rubeus Isolated from a Gold/Copper Mine

1,6,*, Yuan Ping Li 1,†, Nicolas Carraro 2,†, Nan Yang 1, Bixiu Liu 1, Xian Xia 3, Renwei Feng 1,*, Quaiser Saquib 4, Hend A Al-Wathnani 5, Jan Roelof van derMeer 2 and Christopher Rensing . 2018

Heavy metals (HMs) are compounds that can be hazardous and impair growth of living organisms. Bacteria have evolved the capability not only to cope with heavy metals but also to detoxify polluted environments. Three heavy metal-resistant strains of Mucilaginibacer rubeus and one of Mucilaginibacter kameinonensis were isolated from the gold/copper Zijin mining site, Longyan, Fujian, China. These strains were shown to exhibit high resistance to heavy metals with minimal inhibitory concentration reaching up to 3.5 mM Cu(II), 21 mM Zn(II), 1.2 mM Cd(II), and 10.0 mM As(III). Genomes of the four strains were sequenced by Illumina. Sequence analyses revealed the presence of a high abundance of heavy metal resistance (HMR) determinants. One of the strain, M. rubeus P2, carried genes encoding 6 putative PIB-1-ATPase, 5 putative PIB-3-ATPase, 4 putative Zn(II)/Cd(II) PIB-4 type ATPase, and 16 putative resistance-nodulation-division (RND)-type metal transporter systems. Moreover, the four genomes contained a high abundance of genes coding for putative metal binding chaperones. Analysis of the close vicinity of these HMR determinants uncovered the presence of clusters of genes potentially associated with mobile genetic elements. These loci included genes coding for tyrosine recombinases (integrases) and subunits of mating pore (type 4 secretion system), respectively allowing integration/excision and conjugative transfer of numerous genomic islands. Further in silico analyses revealed that their genetic organization and gene products resemble the Bacteroides integrative and conjugative element CTnDOT. These results highlight the pivotal role of genomic islands in the acquisition and dissemination of adaptive traits, allowing for rapid adaption of bacteria and colonization of hostile environments. Keywords: Mucilaginibacer rubeus; Mucilaginibacter kameinonensis; genomic island; evolution; heavy

Publication Work Type
Article
Volume Number
9
Issue Number
573
Magazine \ Newspaper
Gene
Pages
1-14
more of publication
publications

Nickel oxide nanoparticles (NiO-NPs) have been used in several consumer goods, reported to demonstrate the hepatotoxic effects in vitro and in vivo test models. Nonetheless the…

by a,b,1 c,1 b c c Quaiser Saquib , Pu Xia , Maqsood A. Siddiqui , Junjiang Zhang , Yuwei Xie , dddd Mohammad Faisal , Sabiha M. Ansari , Hend A. Alwathnani , Abdulrahman A. Alatar , a c, * Abdulaziz A. Al-Khedhairy , Xiaowei Zhang
2020
publications

Heavy metals (HMs) are compounds that can be hazardous and impair growth of living organisms. Bacteria have evolved the capability not only to cope with heavy metals but also to detoxify polluted…

by Yuan Ping Li 1,†, Nicolas Carraro 2,†, Nan Yang 1, Bixiu Liu 1, Xian Xia 3, Renwei Feng 1,*, Quaiser Saquib 4, Hend A Al-Wathnani 5, Jan Roelof van derMeer 2 and Christopher Rensing 1,6,*
2018