Metal Response in Cupriavidus metallidurans, Volume I: From Habitats to Genes and Proteins

This two-volume set is a collaborative work aimed to review the Cupriavidus metallidurans resistance mechanisms to toxic concentrations of heavy metals at the ecological, physiological, genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic level. The main heavy metals studied are zinc, nickel, cadmium, cobalt, copper, chromium (chromate), lead, mercury, gold and silver. This volume contains three chapters, each with its own emphasis. Chapter 1 discusses anthropogenic waste as a source of metal-resistant Cupriavidus together with mobile genetic elements as vectors of metal-responsive genes and possible actors in evolution driven by the adaptation to such environments. Chapter 2 reviews the genomic context of the metal response genes in C. metallidurans CH34 with a focus on its mobile genetic elements. Chapter 3 inventories the catalogues of metal resistance genes, proteins and mechanisms as well as some environmental applications. Mechanisms first discovered in this bacterium such as the RND efflux pumps for cadmium, cobalt, nickel and zinc, and the cation diffusion factors are highlighted together with the resistance determinants to other metals such as chromate, lead, mercury, silver and gold, as well as the intricate regulatory network and accessory genes.