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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2003, p . 3176-3180, Vol . 69, No . 6
Enhanced Mercury Biosorption by Bacterial Cells with Surface-Displayed MerR
Weon Bae,1 Cindy H . Wu,1,2 Jan Kostal,1 Ashok Mulchandani,1 and Wilfred Chen1*
Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering,1
Environmental Toxicology Program, University of California, Riverside, California 925212
Received 20 December 2002/
Accepted 12 March 2003
The metalloregulatory protein MerR, which exhibits high affinity and selectivity toward mercury, was exploited for the construction of microbial biosorbents specific for mercury removal . Whole-cell sorbents were constructed with MerR genetically engineered onto the surface of Escherichia coli cells by using an ice nucleation protein anchor . The presence of surface-exposed MerR on the engineered strains enabled sixfold-higher Hg2+ biosorption than that found in the wild-type JM109 cells . Hg2+ binding via MerR was very specific, with no observable decline even in the presence of 100-fold excess Cd2+ and Zn2+ . The Hg2+ binding property of the whole-cell sorbents was also insensitive to different ionic strengths, pHs, and the presence of metal chelators . Since metalloregulatory proteins are currently available for a wide variety of toxic heavy metals, our results suggest that microbial biosorbents overexpressing metalloregulatory proteins may be used similarly for the cleanup of other important heavy metals .
Mercury is highly toxic to the nervous system, particularly the developing nervous system of a fetus or young child (11) . Because of the lack of knowledge about mercury's toxicity and potential environmental impact, in the past, factory effluents typically associated with chlor-alkali plants, battery facilities, and military and medical wastes were commonly released into the surrounding areas (17) . The best-documented cases of severe mercury poisoning were from Minamata Bay, Japan, in 1956 and Iraq in 1971 .
Conventional treatments to remove Hg2+ from contaminated sources are often inadequate to reduce Hg2+ concentrations to acceptable regulatory standards . Current interest is focused on developing microbial-based biosorbents for the efficient removal of mercury (6) . Both naturally occurring metal-binding peptides such as metallothioneins (MTs) and synthetic peptides such as synthetic phytochelatins (ECs [e.g., EC20]) (1-3, 23) have been expressed onto the surface of bacterial cells for improved uptake and biosorption of mercury . However, one major problem associated with these cysteine-rich peptides is their lack of specificity, which may cause difficulty in the specific recovery and recycling of mercury (4) .
Many bacteria develop resistance to heavy metals by inducing the expression of an array of resistance proteins (16) . Besides the high affinity of these metalloregulatory proteins, a clear advantage is their specificity . One example is the 15.8-kDa regulatory protein MerR, used for controlling the expression of enzymes responsible for mercury detoxification (18) . The binding affinity of MerR is several orders of magnitude higher for mercury than for other heavy metals (4, 19) .
In this work, we present a new method for selective removal of mercury by generating microbial biosorbents with surface-exposed MerR . The resulting Escherichia coli strain is endowed with the ability to bind mercury with high affinity and selectivity similar to that exhibited by MerR .
Strains, plasmids, media, and general procedures.
E . coli strain JM109 { (lac-proAB) glnV44 e14- gyrA96 recA1 relA1 endA1 thi hsdR17 [F' traD36 proA+B+ lacIq
(lacZ)M15]} was used in this study . Plasmid pUNIM, a pUC18Not (9) derivative, was used to express an ice nucleation protein (INP)-MerR fusion on the cell surface . Cultures were grown in Luria-Bertani medium supplemented with 100 µg of ampicillin per ml at 37°C to an optical density at 600 nm (OD600) of 0.6 when 1 mM isopropyl-ß-D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) was added to induce the expression of the fusion proteins .
Construction of INP-MerR fusion.
The INP-MerR fusion was constructed as follows . The merR fragment was PCR amplified from plasmid pT7KB (5) with the primers merR1 (5' CCGGGATCCTATGGAAAACAATTTGGAGA 3') and merR2 (5' CAGCTGCAGCCCTAAGGCATAGCCGAACC 3') . The amplified fragment was digested with BamHI and PstI, gel purified, and subcloned into a similarly digested pUNI, which contains an EcoRI-BamHI INP fragment inserted into pUC18Not, to generate pUNIM . The resulting construct allows expression of MerR on the surface of E . coli .
To probe the surface localization of MerR, a hexahistidine tag was added to the C-terminal part of the INP-MerR fusion . The merR fragment was reamplified with a new reverse primer, merR3 (5' ATTCTGCAGCTAATGATGATGGTGGTGGTGATAAGGCATAGCCGAACCTGCCAAGCTT 3'), coding for six histidines at the C terminus . The resulting plasmid, pUNIMH, coding for the INP-MerR-H6 fusion, was prepared as described above .
Cell fractionation.
After overnight induction, cells were harvested and resuspended in 50 mM Tris-Cl buffer (pH 7.4) . Cells were disrupted by a French pressure cell at 16,000 lb/in2 (SLM Instruments, Inc.) . After two passes through a French press, cell extracts were centrifuged for 10 min at 10,000 rpm to remove the cell debris . The cell extract was then ultracentrifuged at 115,000 x g (Beckman) for 1 h to separate the membrane and soluble fractions . The pellet obtained (membrane fraction) was resuspended in 50 mM Tris buffer (pH 7.4) .
Western blot analysis.
Samples (10 µl) of concentrated cells (OD600 = 10) were mixed with loading buffer (15) and boiled for 10 min . Samples were run on a 12.5% (wt/vol) acrylamide sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) gel . Proteins were then transferred to a nitrocellulose support before incubation with INP-specific antibodies (14) . Western blot analysis was performed with a Bio-Rad Immun-Blot GAR-AP kit (Bio-Rad, Hercules, Calif.) . Prestained broad-range molecular weight markers were used to estimate protein molecular weights .
Immunofluorescence microscopy.
Following overnight incubation, cells were harvested and resuspended (OD600 = 0.5) in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) buffer with 3% bovine serum albumin . Intact cells were then incubated with mouse anti-His6 antisera (1:5,000) for 8 h at 4°C . Cells were washed extensively, resuspended in PBS containing a secondary goat anti-mouse immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody conjugated with Alexa Fluor 488 (Molecular Probes, Eugene, Oreg.) at a 1:500 dilution, and incubated overnight at 4°C . Prior to microscopy, cells were washed five times with PBS . Photographs were taken with a fluorescence microscope (Olympus) .
Mercury binding experiments.
Overnight cultures were harvested, washed twice with 50 mM Tris-Cl buffer (pH 7.4), and resuspended to a final OD600 of 1.0 in the same buffer containing 5 µM HgCl2 . Samples were removed after various incubation times, and the amount of bound Hg2+ was determined . For mercury analysis, cells were washed twice with saline, dried, and digested with concentrated nitric acid . Total mercury was analyzed by cold vapor atomic absorption spectrophotometry by using a mercury analyzer (Coleman model 50B) . The binding capacity was determined by incubating cells with different concentrations of Hg2+ . The selectivity of the engineered cells for Hg2+ was investigated by performing the Hg2+ binding experiments in the presence of various amounts of cadmium and zinc ions . The effect of ionic strength was determined by measuring mercury binding in Tris-Cl buffer (pH 7.4) with sodium chloride concentrations of between 0 and 400 mM . The effect of pH was determined by performing the Hg2+ binding experiments in citric-phosphate-borate buffers at pHs between 3 and 11 .
Surface expression of MerR using an INP anchor.
INP is an outer membrane protein that acts as a template for ice nucleation (3, 21, 22) . Since INP and the truncated version of INP containing only the N- and C-terminal portions have been used to target a wide range of monomeric and dimeric proteins onto the surface of E . coli (21) and Moraxella sp . (22) without any adverse effects on cell growth and integrity, this strategy was adopted for targeting the dimeric MerR to the surface of E . coli . Plasmid pUNIM, carrying the INP-MerR fusion, was used for genetic immobilization of MerR . Expression of full-length INP-MerR fusion proteins was confirmed by blotting with INP antisera . A protein band of
65 kDa corresponding to the correct size of INP-MerR was detected from cells carrying pUNIM (Fig . 1, lane 1) . No such fusion protein was detected in cells carrying pUC18Not (Fig . 1, lane 4) . The localization of INP-MerR in the membrane fraction was also demonstrated by immunoblotting (Fig . 1, lane 3) .
| FIG . 1 . Expression of INP-MerR in different cellular fractions . Total cell proteins were separated by SDS-PAGE (12.5% [wt/vol] polyacrylamide) and transferred to a nitrocellulose membrane . Western blot analysis with anti-INP sera was performed at a 1:3,000 dilution . Lanes 1, 2, and 3 represent the total protein, soluble fraction, and membrane fraction of JM109/pUNIM . Lane 4 represents the total protein of JM109/pUC18Not . The desired fusion proteins are marked with an arrow . MW, molecular mass.
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The surface localization of the MerR domain was verified by immunofluorescence labeling . For ease of detection, a hexahistidine tag was added to the C terminus of the INP-MerR fusion (pUNIMH), which can be easily detected with an anti-His antibody . Immunofluorescence labeling of cells expressing the INP-MerR-H6 fusion was performed by first probing with the hexahistidine antisera, followed by incubation with an Alexa Fluor 488-conjugated goat anti-mouse IgG as the second antibody . The results are shown in Fig . 2 . While cells carrying pUC18Not were not labeled, cells carrying pUNIMH were brightly labeled fluorescent, confirming the presence of INP-MerR-H6 fusion on the cell surface .
| FIG . 2 . Phase-contrast micrographs (A) and immunofluorescence micrographs (B) of E . coli JM109 cells harboring pUC18Not (I) or pUNIMH (II) . Cells were probed with anti-(His)6 sera and fluorescently stained with a goat anti-mouse IgG conjugated with Alexa Fluor 488.
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Whole-cell binding of mercury.
To investigate whether the surface-displayed MerR protein retains the ability to bind mercury, overnight cultures of JM109/pUNIM and JM109/pUC18Not were resuspended to a final OD600 of 1.0 in Tris buffer (pH 7.4) containing 5 µM Hg2+, and the amount of bound Hg2+ was determined after 1 h . Cells displaying MerR on the surface accumulated a significant level of Hg2+ (17.3 nmol/mg [dry weight]); all added Hg2+ was removed within 1 h (data not shown) . For comparison, JM109 cells transformed with pUC18Not yielded a sixfold-lower level of accumulation (3.1 nmol/mg [dry weight]) . These results demonstrate that MerR retains its mercury binding characteristics even when displayed on the cell surface .
To confirm the binding of Hg2+ to the surface-exposed MerR, the amount of bound Hg2+ was also determined for the cytoplasmic and membrane cell fractions . Consistent with the expected localization of MerR, over 75% of the accumulated Hg2+ was associated with the membrane fraction of JM109/pUNIM cells . In contrast, less than 20% of the bound Hg2+ was associated with the membrane fraction for JM109/pUC18Not cells . These results again confirm that surface-displayed MerR is mainly responsible for whole-cell binding of mercury .
To determine the mercury-binding rate for cells harboring pUNIM, a time course study was conducted . As shown in Fig . 3A, 90% of the total Hg2+ was removed within the first 2 min . This rapid initial binding rate suggests an instantaneous binding of Hg2+ by the surface-exposed MerR, followed by slower nonspecific binding to other cell surface components (2) .
| FIG . 3 . Hg2+ binding by E . coli strain JM109 carrying pUNIM . (A) Time profile of mercury uptake by resting cells harboring pUNIM . Resting cells (0.265 mg [dry weight]) were resuspended in Tris buffer (pH 7.4) containing 5 µM Hg2+ and incubated for the indicated lengths of time . (B) Hg2+ binding isotherm for JM109/pUNIM cells . Hg2+ binding was determined at various concentrations after 1 h of incubation . (C) Selectivity of Hg2+ binding in the presence of competing cadmium and zinc ions . JM109/pUNIM cells were incubated with 5 µM Hg2+ and various concentrations of competing heavy metals . Hg2+ binding was determined after 1 h of incubation . The data shown are the mean values (± standard deviation) obtained from three independent experiments.
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To determine the maximum binding capacity of cells with surface-exposed MerR, whole-cell binding was determined over a range of Hg2+ concentrations (Fig . 3B) . At lower concentrations (<20 µM), 100% of the added Hg2+ was removed within 1 h . The binding level quickly saturated at higher concentrations and reached a plateau at around 120 nmol/mg (dry weight) . The maximum binding capacity is approximately two times lower than the value reported for cells with surface-exposed EC20 (2) . It has been reported that the mercury binding stoichiometry of one Hg2+ per MerR dimer (20) is significantly lower than the value of 20 for EC20 (2), which could explain the differences in the Hg2+ binding capacity .
MerR is typically a dimer, and its high-affinity mercury binding domain consists of three conserved cysteine residues at positions C82, C117, and C126, which form a highly specific, trigonal Hg2+ coordination site involving C117 and C126 from one subunit and C82 from the other (12) . Although cells displaying MerR bind mercury with high affinity, it is unclear whether the surface-displayed MerR retains its dimeric conformation and selectivity toward mercury . To demonstrate the selectivity of surface-exposed MerR toward mercury, whole-cell binding of Hg2+ was performed in the presence of up to 100-fold molar excess of competing heavy metals (Fig . 3C) such as Cd2+ and Zn2+ . In both cases, only mercury was removed in notable amounts, and the extent of mercury binding was minimally affected by the competing heavy metals . These results are consistent with those obtained with purified MerR, which binds Hg2+ preferentially even in the presence of a 1,000-fold excess of Zn2+ and Cd2+ (20), suggesting that the striking specificity of MerR appears to be preserved even when displayed on the cell surface .
Evaluation of mercury biosorption.
To demonstrate the utility of the whole-cell sorbents in contaminated waters, the effects of different environmental factors such as ionic strength, pH, and chelators on mercury binding were evaluated . Na+ is an ion commonly found in contaminated waters, and levels of 40 mM have been reported in coal mine tailings and acid mine waters (10) . To investigate whether the presence of Na+ has any effect on whole-cell binding of mercury, Hg2+ binding experiments were performed at increasing concentrations of sodium chloride . As shown in Fig . 4A, no significant decrease in mercury binding was observed with Na+ concentrations up to 400 mM . This observation contrasts with the biosorption behavior reported for an Hg2+-resistant strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, PU21(Rip64) (7), in which a concentration of 150 mM sodium chloride can reduce Hg2+ binding by over 90% . The insensitivity of our whole-cell sorbents to the presence of NaCl is again consistent with the specific nature of the MerR moiety toward Hg2+ .
| FIG . 4 . Evaluation of mercury binding by JM109 cells harboring pUNIM . (A) Effect of sodium ion on mercury binding . Resting cells (0.265 mg [dry weight]) were resuspended in Tris buffer (pH 7.4) containing 5 µM Hg2+, and the indicated concentrations of NaCl were added . Hg2+ binding was determined after 1 h of incubation . (B) pH profile of mercury binding . Resting cells (0.265 mg [dry weight]) were resuspended in citric-phosphate-borate buffer containing 5 µM Hg2+ with pHs ranging from 3 to 11 . Hg2+ binding was determined after 1 h of incubation . The data shown are the mean values (± standard deviation) obtained from three independent experiments.
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In addition to earth metals, complexing agents and chelators are frequently found in contaminated waters (8) . These agents are able to form tight complexes with metals and decrease their bioavailability . The effect of metal chelators on Hg2+ binding was investigated . The addition of up to 10 mM EDTA did not affect the accumulated Hg2+ levels (data not shown) . The fact that biosorbents with surface-displayed MerR bind Hg2+ significantly stronger than EDTA (Kd = 10-25 M) (19) suggests that whole-cell sorbents can be used for specific removal of Hg2+ from soil or particulates, which normally adsorb Hg2+ strongly .
The effect of pH is another major factor that greatly influences metal binding by affecting bioavailability through metal speciation, sequestration, and/or mobility (13) . Most biosorbents reported to date are highly pH sensitive; in some cases, even a change of pH by 1 unit results in a 50% reduction in mercury binding (7) . Figure 4B depicts the pH profile of mercury binding by cells with surface-displayed MerR . The level of mercury binding remained virtually the same from pHs 5 to 11 and decreased by 30% only at pH 3 . The resistance of the whole-cell sorbent to pH variation and to the presence of other competing heavy metals, earth metals, and EDTA suggests that this whole-cell sorbent may be a useful tool for the removal of Hg2+ in contaminated wastewaters .
Eukaryotes limit the concentrations of reactive free metal ions by intracellular sequestration . Cysteine-rich MTs and PCs are the main metal-sequestering molecules used for cellular immobilization of metal ions . Expression of MTs and protein analogs of phytochelatins (ECs) have been employed as biological chelators to increase the immobilization of heavy metals by bacterial cells . Although these cysteine-rich peptides have high affinity for a wide range of heavy metals, they lack the required selectivity to enable the specific removal and recycling of the desired metal (4) .
To provide high specificity and affinity, one could exploit what nature can offer . Many bacteria acquire resistance to heavy metals by triggering the production of transport proteins and enzymes that can actively metabolize and inactivate the toxic effects of these metals (16) . These active mechanisms of resistance are highly specific and are only triggered in the presence of the metal of interest . The highly specific nature of these resistance mechanisms is the result of a cleverly designed genetic circuit that is tightly controlled by a specific metalloregulatory protein . To provide sensitive resistance, these metalloregulatory proteins also possess high affinity in the submicromolar range .
The high affinity and selectivity of a mercury-specific metalloregulatory protein, MerR, were exploited for the selective removal and recycling of Hg2+ . The dimeric MerR was successfully targeted onto the cell surface and provided increased Hg2+ binding in the virtual absence of uptake . The selectivity of MerR is significantly better than that of other cysteine-rich peptides due to the tricoordinate arrangement of cysteines in the binding pocket of MerR, which allows very specific binding of Hg2+ . While no decline in Hg2+ binding was observed for cells with surface-expressed MerR in the presence of 100-fold excess Cd2+, a more than 20% decline in Hg2+ binding was observed with whole cells expressing EC20 on the surface even at 20-fold excess (2) . The use of MerR in place of other MTs or ECs also offers improved affinity, because no effect on Hg2+ binding was observed even in the presence of 10 mM EDTA, a concentration 10 times higher than the value reported for the extraction of metal ions from MTs (23) . The resistance of the whole-cell sorbents to various environmental conditions such as ionic strength and pH suggests the potential of this strategy for the removal and recovery of Hg2+ from contaminated water, soil, or sediment .
This work was supported by grants from the University of California Toxic Substances Research and Teaching Program and the Environmental Protection Agency (R827227) .
* Corresponding author . Mailing address: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521 . Phone: (909) 787-2473 . Fax: (909) 787-5696 . E-mail: Wilfred{at}engr.ucr.edu .
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