In order to study the mechanism of the copper accumulation in the cell of copper-tolerant bacterium, Pseudomonas stutzeri, distribution of the copper in the cell were investigated. Approximately 61% of the accumulated copper was distributed on the cel...
In order to study the mechanism of the copper accumulation in the cell of copper-tolerant bacterium, Pseudomonas stutzeri, distribution of the copper in the cell were investigated. Approximately 61% of the accumulated copper was distributed on the cell wall and the other 39% portion was in cytoplasm. 78% of the copper in the cell wall fractions was present in the polyphosphate and polysaccharide fractions, but most of copper in the cytoplasm fractions was in protein and nucleic acid.
Copper affected the protein synthesis in P. stutzeri. The intracellular protein content was decreased by copper addition, but the soluble protein precipitated by ammonium sulfate(30-75% saturation) was increased as compared to that from the cells grown without copper. Furthermore, in the cells grown with copper, high-molecular-weight soluble protein was increased, compared with the cells grown without copper, but low-molecular -weight soluble protein was decreased.
These results indicate that copper inhibited the intracellular protein biosynthesis but enhanced the biosynthesis of the high-molecular-weight soluble protein precipitated by ammonium sulfate(30-75% saturation).