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Bioaccumulation of Arsenic in recombinant Escherichia coli expressing human metallothionein

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Abstract

The recombinant Escherichia coli (E. coli) expressing human hepatic metallothionein_IA (hMT_IA) was constructed for bioaccumulation of Arsenic (As). The gene sequence of hMT_IA was modified for codon preference of E. coli and synthesized using chemical method. The vector of pGEX_4T_1 was used and hMT_IA was expressed as the fusion protein with glutathione S-transferase (GST) tag. The bioaccumulation capability of arsenite compounds As(III) of the recombinant E. coli increased more than 3-fold from 76.3 to 319.6 µg/g dry cells compared with the control. The conditions of 50 µM of As(III) and low pHs were optimal for As(III) bioaccumulation. The heavy metals of Cd, Hg, and Zn inhibited As(III) bioaccumulation. The bioaccumulation reached 70% of the saturated value within 1 h. The recombinant E. coli will be useful in bioremediation of arsenic or other kinds of heavy metal contaminated water.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Lab of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Jinan, 250-100, China

    Yu-Jie Su, Jian-Qun Lin, Jian-Qiang Lin & Dong-Hui Hao

  2. Qingdao Institute of BioEnergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266-071, China

    Yu-Jie Su

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Correspondence to Jian-Qun Lin or Jian-Qiang Lin.

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Su, YJ., Lin, JQ., Lin, JQ. et al. Bioaccumulation of Arsenic in recombinant Escherichia coli expressing human metallothionein. Biotechnol Bioproc E 14, 565–570 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12257-008-0197-y

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