Molecular Characterization of Znt Regulon for Multi-Metal Resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae KW
Molecular Characterization of Znt Regulon for Multi-Metal Resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae KW
Hafsa Saeed, Soumble Zulfiqar, Abeedha Tu-Allah Khan and Abdul Rauf Shakoori*
ABSTRACT
Heavy metals such as zinc, lead and cadmium, at high concentrations, are toxic to microorganisms. A chromosomally encoded znt operon plays an important role in multi-metal resistance in some members of Enterobacteriaceae. However, its role has not yet been explored in K. pneumoniae. This study focused on molecular characterization of ZntR, a transcriptional regulator of znt operon. The minimum inhibitory concentration of zinc, lead and cadmium were 10, 10 and 4 mM, respectively against K. pneumoniae KW. The strain also exhibited metal uptake and storage ability. Having amplified and cloned zntR gene, expressed and purified ZntR protein showed binding with zntA promoter. Increased transcripts of zntR in the presence of metal ions revealed its metal inducible nature. The molecular dynamics simulation and protein-metal ion docking studies of the K. pneumoniae ZntR protein are being reported for the first time.
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