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New insights into the protective effect of manganese against oxidative stress
Author(s) -
McEwan Alastair G.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
molecular microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.857
H-Index - 247
eISSN - 1365-2958
pISSN - 0950-382X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2009.06700.x
Subject(s) - manganese , oxidative stress , hydrogen peroxide , ferrous , divalent , superoxide dismutase , antioxidant , biochemistry , redox , enzyme , reactive oxygen species , biology , escherichia coli , catalase , chemistry , inorganic chemistry , gene , organic chemistry
Summary Manganese has emerged as an important trace element in bacterial physiology. The correlation between manganese accumulation and resistance to oxidative stress has led to the suggestion that, in addition to a role as a prosthetic group in superoxide dismutase, manganese could exert its antioxidant effect via non‐enzymatic redox reactions. The article by Anjem et al. in the current issue of Molecular Microbiology investigates the role of manganese ions in the defence against hydrogen peroxide in Escherichia coli . The results indicate that the redox activity of manganese is not linked to its protective effect. Instead, it is suggested that manganese replaces ferrous iron in enzymes that contain divalent cations at their active site. This enables the cell to avoid oxidative stress associated with iron release in the presence of hydrogen peroxide.