Heterologous Expression of the Phytochelatin Synthase CaPCS2 from Chlamydomonas acidophila and Its Effect on Different Stress Factors in Escherichia coli

Silvia Díaz, Ángeles Aguilera, Carolina G. de Figueras, Patricia de Francisco, Sanna Olsson, Fernando Puente-Sánchez and José Eduardo González-Pastor
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Silvia Díaz: Department of Genetics, Physiology and Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, C. José Antonio Novais, 12, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), 28040 Madrid, Spain
Ángeles Aguilera: Department of Molecular Biology, Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), Carretera de Ajalvir, km 4, Torrejón de Ardoz, 28850 Madrid, Spain
Carolina G. de Figueras: Department of Molecular Biology, Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), Carretera de Ajalvir, km 4, Torrejón de Ardoz, 28850 Madrid, Spain
Patricia de Francisco: Department of Molecular Biology, Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), Carretera de Ajalvir, km 4, Torrejón de Ardoz, 28850 Madrid, Spain
Sanna Olsson: Department of Forest Ecology and Genetics, Forest Research Centre (INIA, CSIC), Carretera de La Coruña, km 7.5, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Fernando Puente-Sánchez: Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Lennart Hjelms väg 9, 756 51 Uppsala, Sweden
José Eduardo González-Pastor: Department of Molecular Biology, Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), Carretera de Ajalvir, km 4, Torrejón de Ardoz, 28850 Madrid, Spain

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 13, 1-21

Abstract: Phytochelatins (PCs) are cysteine-rich small peptides, enzymatically synthesized from reduced glutathione (GSH) by cytosolic enzyme phytochelatin synthase (PCS). The open reading frame (ORF) of the phytochelatin synthase CaPCS2 gene from the microalgae Chlamydomonas acidophila was heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli strain DH5?, to analyze its role in protection against various abiotic agents that cause cellular stress. The transformed E. coli strain showed increased tolerance to exposure to different heavy metals (HMs) and arsenic (As), as well as to acidic pH and exposure to UVB, salt, or perchlorate. In addition to metal detoxification activity, new functions have also been reported for PCS and PCs. According to the results obtained in this work, the heterologous expression of CaPCS2 in E. coli provides protection against oxidative stress produced by metals and exposure to different ROS-inducing agents. However, the function of this PCS is not related to HM bioaccumulation.

Keywords: phytochelatins; heavy metal resistance; stress response; oxidative stress; bioaccumulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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