title: Copper induction of lactate oxidase of Lactococcus lactis: a novel metal stress response.
abstract: Lactococcus lactis IL1403, a lactic acid bacterium widely used for food fermentation, is often exposed to stress conditions. One such condition is exposure to copper, such as in cheese making in copper vats. Copper is an essential micronutrient in prokaryotes and eukaryotes but can be toxic if in excess. Thus, copper homeostatic mechanisms, consisting chiefly of copper transporters and their regulators, have evolved in all organisms to control cytoplasmic copper levels. Using proteomics to identify novel proteins involved in the response of L. lactis IL1403 to copper, cells were exposed to 200 muM copper sulfate for 45 min, followed by resolution of the cytoplasmic fraction by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. One protein strongly induced by copper was LctO, which was shown to be a NAD-independent lactate oxidase. It catalyzed the conversion of lactate to pyruvate in vivo and in vitro. Copper, cadmium, and silver induced LctO, as shown by real-time quantitative PCR. A copper-regulatory element was identified in the 5' region of the lctO gene and shown to interact with the CopR regulator, encoded by the unlinked copRZA operon. Induction of LctO by copper represents a novel copper stress response, and we suggest that it serves in the scavenging of molecular oxygen.
authors.affiliation: Deptartment of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Berne, Murtenstrasse 35, 3010 Berne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Barré
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mourlane
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Solioz
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D003300:Copper / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004790:Enzyme Induction / Q000187:drug effects; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D018869:Heat-Shock Response; D007778:Lactobacillus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006899:Mixed Function Oxygenases / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D018384:Oxidative Stress
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D003300:Copper; D006899:Mixed Function Oxygenases; C021497:lactate 2-monooxygenase