Open AccessZn(II) metabolism in prokaryotes
Author(s) -
Blencowe Dayle K,
Morby Andrew P
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
fems microbiology reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.91
H-Index - 212
eISSN - 1574-6976
pISSN - 0168-6445
DOI - 10.1016/s0168-6445(03)00041-x
Subject(s) - cytosol , biology , extracellular , intracellular , chemiosmosis , biochemistry , metabolism , metalloprotein , microbiology and biotechnology , gene , atp synthase , enzyme
It is difficult to over‐state the importance of Zn(II) in biology. It is a ubiquitous essential metal ion and plays a role in catalysis, protein structure and perhaps as a signal molecule, in organisms from all three kingdoms. Of necessity, organisms have evolved to optimise the intracellular availability of Zn(II) despite the extracellular milieu. To this end, prokaryotes contain a range of Zn(II) import, Zn(II) export and/or binding proteins, some of which utilise either ATP or the chemiosmotic potential to drive the movement of Zn(II) across the cytosolic membrane, together with proteins that facilitate the diffusion of this ion across either the outer or inner membranes of prokaryotes. This review seeks to give an overview of the systems currently classified as altering Zn(II) availability in prokaryotes.