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The importance of yeast Alr proteins in cadmium detoxification as indicated by particle‐induced x‐ray emission and phenotypic analyses
Author(s) -
Kern A. L.,
Bonatto D.,
Dias J. F.,
Yoneama M.L.,
Brendel M.,
Henriques J. A. P.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
x‐ray spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.447
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1097-4539
pISSN - 0049-8246
DOI - 10.1002/xrs.835
Subject(s) - cadmium , saccharomyces cerevisiae , yeast , mutant , proton , metal , chemistry , intracellular , irradiation , biophysics , gene , radiochemistry , biochemistry , biology , physics , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics , nuclear physics
One gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, ALR1 , encodes a transmembrane protein involved in the transport of Mg 2+ into cells. Overexpression of this gene changes the tolerance of S. cerevisiae to several metal cations. In order to study the cellular uptake mechanism of metal cations in S. cerevisiae , an accurate determination of the metals present in the cells is needed. In this work, particle‐induced x‐ray emission (PIXE) was employed to analyze the intracellular metal content after cell exposure to cadmium. To that end, a specific method for sample preparation was developed. The samples were irradiated with a 2 MeV proton beam, while the induced x‐rays were detected with a high‐purity germanium detector. The PIXE results for cadmium‐exposed ALR1 mutant and wild‐type yeast cells suggest that Alr1p has a central role in the cell survival process in a cadmium‐rich environment. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.