• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.250-255
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• 1994

Wild-type and four mutant R100 merR genes were cloned and the proteins overproduced under tac promoter control of pKK223-3. His118Ala, Cys117Ser, Cys126Ser, and wild-type MerR were successfully overproduced although amino-terminal 14 amino acids deletion mutant MerR was not successful. The amount of overproduced wild-type MerR protein as well as other mutant MerR was between 15%-20% of the total protein. The protein was able to be purified up to 95% homogeneity. Specific DNA-protein blotting experiments showed that the 95 bp operator containing DNA fragment could bind to Cys126Ser, His118Ala, and wild- type MerR, but not to Cys117Ser. These results were consistent with the previously reported complementation experiment results that His118Ala, Cys126Ser, and wild-type MerR could repress the mer operon but Cys117Ser could not.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.245-249
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• 1994

An amino-terminal 14 amino acids deletion and three site-directed mutations were created to investigate the mechanism of induction and repression of MerR regulatory protein in R100 mer operon from gramnegative Shigella flexneri. The amino-terminal 14 amino acids deletion, Cysl17Ser, and Cys126Ser mutations abolished the inducibility of the mer operon and the Hisl18Ala mutation resulted in the reduction of inducibility (about 9.1 % remaining) in complementation experiment in the presence of $Hg^{2＋}$ at subtoxic level ($1\mu M$). The complementation experiment with $Hg^{2＋}$ absent showed that Hisl18Ala, Cys126Ser, and wild-type MerR could repress the operon but Cysl17Ser could not, and the amino-terminal deletion mutant could neither induce nor repress the R100 mer operon.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.274-282
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• 2019

Mercury-resistant ($Hg^R$) bacteria were isolated from heavy metal polluted wastewater and soil collected near to tanneries of district Kasur, Pakistan. Bacterial isolates AZ-1, AZ-2 and AZ-3 showed resistance up to $40{\mu}g/ml$ against mercuric chloride ($HgCl_2$). 16S rDNA ribotyping and phylogenetic analysis were performed for the characterization of selected isolates as Bacillus sp. AZ-1 (KT270477), Bacillus cereus AZ-2 (KT270478) and Bacillus cereus AZ-3 (KT270479). Phylogenetic relationship on the basis of merA nucleotide sequence confirmed 51-100% homology with the corresponding region of the merA gene of already reported mercury-resistant Gram-positive bacteria. The merE gene involved in the transportation of elemental mercury ($Hg^0$) via cell membrane was cloned for the first time into pHLV vector and transformed in overexpressed C43(DE3) E. coli cells. The recombinant plasmid (pHLMerE) was expressed and the native MerE protein was obtained after thrombin cleavage by size exclusion chromatography (SEC). The purification of fusion/recombinant and native protein MerE by Ni-NTA column, dialysis and fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC/SEC) involved unfolding/refolding techniques. A small-scale reservoir of wastewater containing $30{\mu}g/ml$ of $HgCl_2$ was designed to check the detoxification ability of selected strains. It resulted in 83% detoxification of mercury by B. cereus AZ-2 and B. cereus AZ-3, and 76% detoxification by Bacillus sp. AZ-1 respectively (p < 0.05).

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.388-398
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• 1998

A bacterium which is resistant to both mercury and cadmium, and also capable of utilizing phenol as a carbon and energy source, was isolated from the Kumho River sediments near Kangchang Bridge, Taegu, Korea. The isolate was labeled Pseudomonas sp. KM10 and characterized. The bacteria grew in 4 mM $CdCl_2$and in $70{\mu}M$ $HgCl_2$. The bacteria efficiently removed over 90% of 1 g/l phenol within 30 h. In the presence of 1.250 g/l phenol, the growth of the microorganism was slightly retarded and the microorganism could not tolerate 1.5 g/l phenol. Curing of plasmid from the bacteria was carried out to generate a plasmidless strain. Subsequent experiments localized the genes for phenol degradation in plasmid and the genes for mercury resistance and cadmium resistance on the chromosome. Dot hybridization and Southern hybridization under low stringent conditions were performed to identify the DNA homology. These results showed significant homologies between the some sequence of the chromosome of Pseudomonas sp. KM10 and merR of Shigella flexneri R 100, and between the some sequence of the chromosome of Pseudomonas sp. KM10 and cadA of Staphylococcus aureus pI258. The mechanism of cadmium resistance was efflux, similar to that of S. aureus pI258 cadA, and the mechanism of mercury resistance was volatilization, similar to that of S. flexneri R100 mer.