Glutathione reductase plays a role in the metabolism of methylmercury degradation in Rhodotorula mucilaginosa
ABSTRACT Mercury pollution is a kind of heavy metal pollution with great harm and strong toxicity which exists worldwide. Some microorganisms can convert highly toxic methylmercury into inorganic mercury compounds with significantly reduced toxicity. This is an effective means of methylmercury pollu...
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American Society for Microbiology
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Microbiology Spectrum |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/spectrum.02395-24 |
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| author | Yi Guo Wenlong Deng Qigui Mo You Yu Zhenwang Zhang Mingjie Wei Ruiling Tang Surui Lu Yanting Su |
| author_facet | Yi Guo Wenlong Deng Qigui Mo You Yu Zhenwang Zhang Mingjie Wei Ruiling Tang Surui Lu Yanting Su |
| author_sort | Yi Guo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT Mercury pollution is a kind of heavy metal pollution with great harm and strong toxicity which exists worldwide. Some microorganisms can convert highly toxic methylmercury into inorganic mercury compounds with significantly reduced toxicity. This is an effective means of methylmercury pollution remediation. As a safe microorganism with great potential in the remediation of heavy metal pollution, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa has not been studied in the remediation of methylmercury. Here, a R. mucilaginosa strain Rm4 with high methylmercury resistance was obtained by wild-strain screening. Its minimal inhibitory concentration and minimum lethal concentration reached 3 and 6 mg/L, respectively. At the same time, Rm4 can also degrade methylmercury. Unlike the traditional microbial methylmercury degradation pathways, R. mucilaginosa’s genome does not encode the organomercury lyase gene MerB. However, transcriptomic analysis revealed that the glutathione reductase of R. mucilaginosa responds to the methylmercury degradation process. Structural domain analysis and molecular docking experiments suggest that the glutathione reductase of R. mucilaginosa has the potential to directly or indirectly participate in methylmercury degradation metabolism. Metabolic indicator tests of engineered strains overexpressing the glutathione reductase encoding gene also support this notion.IMPORTANCEThe remediation of methylmercury pollution is crucial for environmental health. The ability of Rhodotorula mucilaginosa to resist and degrade methylmercury offers a new avenue for bioremediation efforts. Understanding the metabolic pathways involved, particularly the role of glutathione reductase, enhances our knowledge of how Rhodotorula mucilaginosa responds to methylmercury and opens up new possibilities for future research in bioremediation strategies. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ba48542db1914aef8c3fcb185fa32007 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2165-0497 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | American Society for Microbiology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Microbiology Spectrum |
| spelling | doaj-art-ba48542db1914aef8c3fcb185fa320072025-02-04T14:03:41ZengAmerican Society for MicrobiologyMicrobiology Spectrum2165-04972025-02-0113210.1128/spectrum.02395-24Glutathione reductase plays a role in the metabolism of methylmercury degradation in Rhodotorula mucilaginosaYi Guo0Wenlong Deng1Qigui Mo2You Yu3Zhenwang Zhang4Mingjie Wei5Ruiling Tang6Surui Lu7Yanting Su8School of Basic Medical Sciences, Xianning Medical College, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning, ChinaSchool of Pharmacy, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning, ChinaMedicine Research Institute and Hubei Key Laboratory of Diabetes and Angiopathy, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning, ChinaSchool of Basic Medical Sciences, Xianning Medical College, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning, ChinaMedicine Research Institute and Hubei Key Laboratory of Diabetes and Angiopathy, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning, ChinaSchool of Pharmacy, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning, ChinaSchool of Basic Medical Sciences, Xianning Medical College, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning, ChinaSchool of Basic Medical Sciences, Xianning Medical College, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning, ChinaSchool of Basic Medical Sciences, Xianning Medical College, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning, ChinaABSTRACT Mercury pollution is a kind of heavy metal pollution with great harm and strong toxicity which exists worldwide. Some microorganisms can convert highly toxic methylmercury into inorganic mercury compounds with significantly reduced toxicity. This is an effective means of methylmercury pollution remediation. As a safe microorganism with great potential in the remediation of heavy metal pollution, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa has not been studied in the remediation of methylmercury. Here, a R. mucilaginosa strain Rm4 with high methylmercury resistance was obtained by wild-strain screening. Its minimal inhibitory concentration and minimum lethal concentration reached 3 and 6 mg/L, respectively. At the same time, Rm4 can also degrade methylmercury. Unlike the traditional microbial methylmercury degradation pathways, R. mucilaginosa’s genome does not encode the organomercury lyase gene MerB. However, transcriptomic analysis revealed that the glutathione reductase of R. mucilaginosa responds to the methylmercury degradation process. Structural domain analysis and molecular docking experiments suggest that the glutathione reductase of R. mucilaginosa has the potential to directly or indirectly participate in methylmercury degradation metabolism. Metabolic indicator tests of engineered strains overexpressing the glutathione reductase encoding gene also support this notion.IMPORTANCEThe remediation of methylmercury pollution is crucial for environmental health. The ability of Rhodotorula mucilaginosa to resist and degrade methylmercury offers a new avenue for bioremediation efforts. Understanding the metabolic pathways involved, particularly the role of glutathione reductase, enhances our knowledge of how Rhodotorula mucilaginosa responds to methylmercury and opens up new possibilities for future research in bioremediation strategies.https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/spectrum.02395-24methylmercuryRhodotorula mucilaginosaheavy metalbioremediationglutathione reductase |
| spellingShingle | Yi Guo Wenlong Deng Qigui Mo You Yu Zhenwang Zhang Mingjie Wei Ruiling Tang Surui Lu Yanting Su Glutathione reductase plays a role in the metabolism of methylmercury degradation in Rhodotorula mucilaginosa Microbiology Spectrum methylmercury Rhodotorula mucilaginosa heavy metal bioremediation glutathione reductase |
| title | Glutathione reductase plays a role in the metabolism of methylmercury degradation in Rhodotorula mucilaginosa |
| title_full | Glutathione reductase plays a role in the metabolism of methylmercury degradation in Rhodotorula mucilaginosa |
| title_fullStr | Glutathione reductase plays a role in the metabolism of methylmercury degradation in Rhodotorula mucilaginosa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Glutathione reductase plays a role in the metabolism of methylmercury degradation in Rhodotorula mucilaginosa |
| title_short | Glutathione reductase plays a role in the metabolism of methylmercury degradation in Rhodotorula mucilaginosa |
| title_sort | glutathione reductase plays a role in the metabolism of methylmercury degradation in rhodotorula mucilaginosa |
| topic | methylmercury Rhodotorula mucilaginosa heavy metal bioremediation glutathione reductase |
| url | https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/spectrum.02395-24 |
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